


Pretend That I'm the Man of Your Dreams

by GenericHero



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death Mention, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, a soulmate au where you can choose your soulmate, generally just a lot of pining someone help them, sorta??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-15 09:53:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15410361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenericHero/pseuds/GenericHero
Summary: Lance had often watched his best friend trace over the brilliant orange sparrow tattoo on his arm and envied the soft, distant smile that crept over his friend’s face. Lance was happy for him, of course, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. He wanted someone to share his life with more than almost anything.He used to imagine what it would be like to go on his first date with his soulmate, constructing elaborate plans and playing them out in his head.Somehow, sitting in a beat-up red pickup truck in the middle of traffic while listening to outdated rock music next to a guy with amulletof all things wasn’t exactly what Lance had in mind.“It’s not a mullet,” Mullet Guy protested.“Stop reading my mind!”“Then stop thinking so loud!”





	Pretend That I'm the Man of Your Dreams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angstinspace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstinspace/gifts).



> This was originally part of a Valentine's day exchange that turned into more of a "we'll get there when we get there" exchange lol.
> 
> Thanks so much to [Miranda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/221bdisneystreet/pseuds/221bdisneystreet), [Brigid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstinspace/pseuds/angstinspace), and [Jessie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talking_Bird/pseuds/Talking_Bird) for beta-ing this for me and to [Alex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsudonace/pseuds/Katsudonace) and [Krystal](https://kryandr.tumblr.com/) for helping me with this fic!!! You guys are the best <333
> 
> As for warnings, the only thing I can think of is there is a minor character death mention, but if anyone sees anything else that they think I should have a warning for please let me know!!
> 
> Title based off of lyrics from [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzlkAf1qGT4)

“I’m fine.”

“You’re _not_ fine.”

Keith glared at his half brother over the beat-up wooden table, crossing his arms over his chest. “I can take care of myself.”

Shiro sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I know you can. I never doubted that. But you can do better than this.”

Keith’s gaze flitted around his small rundown apartment, his frown deepening. He was about to retort when Shiro spoke again.

“You know why I’m here, Keith.”

Keith dipped his head, letting his dark hair fall over his face and hoping it would hide his expression.

“Ever since you got kicked out, you’ve been isolating yourself,” Shiro continued. “I thought you just needed time to process everything and I respect that, but I’m worried about you.”

“I don’t need anyone else!” Keith snapped. “I’ve been doing just fine on my own.” He hated how his voice cracked on the last few words.

Shiro frowned, his brow furrowing in concern. “You don’t have to do everything alone, you know.”

Keith looked away, his gaze drifting to the small window in the kitchen. Silence stretched on between them, the only sound coming from the rattling of a train as it passed underneath the small apartment.

“Why didn’t you answer my message?” Shiro asked, his voice quieter. “I know how much you wanted this.”

Keith remained silent, his gaze falling back to the table as he traced the dark lines in the old wood with his fingernails.

Shiro let out a deep breath. “Keith, I want to help you. But you have to talk to me.”

“I don’t…” Keith slumped in on himself, burying his face in his hands. “I don’t know what to do anymore.” He heard the scratch of the chair across the table pulling out, and in an instant, Shiro was at his side, hugging his shoulders lightly.

“Your parents would want you to be happy, Keith.”

Keith didn’t answer. He could feel his eyes start to burn.

“I’m not going to force you to do anything. But you have the chance to start over, and I think you should take it.”

Keith kept his head lowered and let out a sigh of resignation. “I’ll… I’ll try.”

He looked up to see Shiro smiling softly, the edges of his eyes crinkling. He patted Keith’s shoulder.

“That’s all I ask.”

 

 

 

Dusk had fallen by the time they pulled up to the university, the last rays of sun illuminating the snow-covered campus in a hazy golden glow.

Shiro turned down the radio as they came to a stop in front of the residential hall, glancing at Keith. “You nervous?”

Keith glared up at the dark structure looming over them and crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course not.”

“Want me to walk up with you?”

Keith grimaced. “I don’t need an _escort_.”

“Aww, my baby bro’s all grown up,” Shiro teased, poking his shoulder.

“Shut up.” Keith swatted at Shiro’s hand but couldn’t keep his lips from pulling into a smile.

“Hey,” Shiro said, his tone sobering, “let me know if you need anything, alright?”

Keith nodded.

Shiro smiled before shoving Keith’s shoulder. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Keith stuck his tongue out at him before grabbing his backpack and stepping out, the snow crunching beneath his feet as he walked up to the hall.

“Good luck!” Shiro called, giving him one last encouraging smile.

Keith grinned back, but he felt his light mood falter as he approached the entrance of the hall, his mind suddenly flooding with memories of the last time he was here. He pushed them away.

Things would be different this time.

 

 

 

Lance gazed out of the tall glass windows of the library, drumming his fingers on the table idly. The only sounds were the dull hum of voices in the background and the occasional flip of paper. He looked back at Hunk, who was sitting across from him, hunched over a stack of papers with his face set in a concerned scowl.

Lance let out a sigh. “That bad, huh?”

“No, it’s not _bad,_ it’s just…” Hunk bit his lip, seemingly searching for the right word. _“Unique.”_

Lance groaned and let his head fall on the table.

“Not that that’s a bad thing!” Hunk added quickly. “Sometimes it’s good to have a unique perspective on things.”

Pidge snickered from the seat beside Hunk.

“Not helping,” Hunk hissed at her.

Lance propped his head on his hands while Hunk rambled on about proper semicolon use, but a flash of scarlet pulled his gaze back to the front window of the library. “Wait, is that… _Keith?”_

Hunk looked up, glancing over his shoulder at the window. “Hm, I dunno…  it could be anyone, dude.”

“No, it’s him alright,” Lance said, leaning forward in his seat. “I’d recognize that mullet anywhere.”

“Who’s Keith?” Pidge asked, glancing between the two of them.

“He’s bad news, that’s what he is,” Lance grumbled. “What’s he doing back here?”

“Back?”

“He got kicked out about a year ago,” Hunk explained.

Pidge’s eyes widened. “Really? What for?”

Hunk shrugged. “Dunno. He’s always had a bit of a temper, though.”

Lance frowned, his gaze returning to the red-clad figure outside. “I’ll be right back,” he announced, standing up.

Hunk sent him a questioning look but nodded, waving him off.

 

 

 

Keith trudged through the half-melted snow in the courtyard, pulling his jacket closer and grimacing as the wet snow soaked through his shoes. He held the campus map up in front of him, trying to keep it from being flung around by the wind.

He glanced at the watch on his wrist. 12:14. _Damn it._ He was already late.

“Need some help?”

Keith lowered the map to see a familiar boy with dark skin and stormy blue eyes standing before him. The boy had the most dazzling smile Keith had ever seen and he could definitely _not_ deal with this right now.

“I’m fine,” he said, his answer coming out harsher than he intended.

The boy’s smile fell and he raised his hands in exasperation. “Fine, fine. Suit yourself.” He let out a huff and strode away, stopping to cast one last look back at Keith. Seeing Keith still watching him, the boy narrowed his eyes into a glare.

Keith let out a frustrated sigh and raised the map in front of him again, heading in the direction of his class.

By the time he reached the lecture hall, his mood had turned bitter. He pushed the door open roughly and winced as it slammed into the opposing wall.

“Mr. Kogane,” the professor greeted him without looking up, “if you’re going to arrive to class 30 minutes late, at least have the decency to be subtle about it.”

Keith muttered an apology while the rest of the students snickered. He walked to one of the desks in the back and slumped down into his seat.

So much for first impressions.

 

 

 

“So, how was your first day?”

Keith hesitated, shifting the phone to his other hand. “Fine, I guess. Could’ve been worse.”

“Hm.” Shiro’s voice was pensive. “Make any new friends?”

“Uh. Well, there’s this one girl in my political science class. She seems pretty cool. I think her name’s Allura?”

“You think?”

Keith huffed. “You know I’m bad with names.”

“And yet you can name every _Star Wars_ character in existence.”

Keith pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and laying back on his bed. “That’s different.”

Shiro chuckled. “Whatever you say.”

The line was silent for a moment. Keith hummed, picking at a stray thread on the sleeve of his jacket.

“Well, I’m glad things are going well,” Shiro said finally. “You know you can always tell me if you need anything, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Shiro.”

“Want me to pick you up after class on Friday?”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright. Talk to you later, Keith.”

“Yeah.”

 

 

 

Keith thought maybe his second day would go better than his first.

It became apparent that the universe had other plans, however, as the tall boy with stormy blue eyes strode into Keith’s morning class.

The boy caught Keith watching him and raised his eyebrows slightly but said nothing, taking a seat near the front of the room.

Keith instantly regretted thinking that at least it couldn’t get much worse as the instructor, an eccentric man with a bright orange mustache, announced that they would be doing projects in pairs. He grimaced as people started getting up from their seats and bustling around the room.

Keith didn’t bother getting up, already resigned to being the odd one out. He reached for his textbook, figuring he could at least use the time to get ahead on his notes.

“Uh… hey.”

Keith glanced up to see the boy with the stormy blue eyes standing in front of his desk, his hands tucked in his jacket pockets. He was smiling again, but this time it was tentative.

“Want to work together?”

Keith bit back the urge to protest. “Uh. Sure.” 

“Alright, cool.” The boy’s nervous smile morphed into a lopsided grin and he took the seat next to Keith. Keith watched him from the corner of his eye, biting his lip.

“Sorry, what’s your name?” Keith asked.

The boy raised an eyebrow incredulously. “What, you don’t remember me? We used to have like four classes together.”

Keith frowned. Of course he remembered him. How could he forget someone like—

“Lance,” the boy said, holding out his hand. “Lance McClain.”

“Keith,” Keith replied, taking his hand.

Lance huffed out a laugh. “I know who you are. Everyone knows the famous Keith Kogane.”

“Oh.”

“Um…” Lance sent him a questioning look. Keith realized too late that he was still holding his hand.

“Sorry,” Keith muttered, quickly pulling his hand back.

Lance chuckled. “It’s cool. So, uh… how have you been?”

“Oh.” Keith hesitated. “Fine, I guess.”

Lance nodded. “That’s good.”

“Yeah.” Keith flipped through the pages of his textbook. Lance hummed.

“Oh hey, my friends and I are going to see a movie next Wednesday, wanna tag along?”

“What movie?”

Lance leaned forward, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “Voltron 6!”

“Oh. You watch those movies?”

Lance gasped. “You don’t?”

Keith shrugged. “I’ve seen a few. They’re okay, I guess.”

Lance gasped again, clasping his hand over his heart dramatically. _“What?_ Alright, we are having a serious talk about this. I mean it. This is an intervention, Keithy boy.”

Keith snorted. “Are you always this…”

“Cool? Handsome? Charming? Take your pick,” Lance said with a wink.

_“Overdramatic.”_

“Excuse you, but I am just the right amount of dramatic.”

Keith rolled his eyes but felt a smile form on his lips, surprised at how easy it was to fall into banter with the other boy.

Maybe this time really would be different.

 

 

 

“Why do I have to do this with you again?”

“I covered for you after the microwave incident. You owe me one.”

Pidge grimaced, leaning against the wall of the hallway. “We swore we’d never speak of that again,” she said, lowering her voice. “Alright, alright. How’re we doing this?”

Lance grinned, pulling a folded up sheet of paper from his jacket pocket. “I’m going to put this note in Allura’s locker asking her to be my soulmate, and we’ll wait it out here until she finds it. Then, if things go well, I walk out and sweep her off her feet.”

“And if things go badly?”

“We book it.”

Pidge nodded, then frowned, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Wait, so why am _I_ here?”

“Moral support.”

“You mean making sure you don’t chicken out at the last second.”

“Something like that.”

Pidge rolled her eyes and clapped Lance on the shoulder. “Go get ‘em, Loverboy.”

Lance grinned and continued down the hallway. Most of the classes had ended for the day, leaving it thankfully near vacant. He scanned the numbers above the lockers until he came to the one he was looking for and quickly pushed the letter through one of the vents before dashing back to the intersecting hallway.

Pidge was already sitting on one of the couches in the lobby, and she raised an eyebrow as Lance entered. He shot her a quick thumbs up and took a seat on the couch across from her.

 

 

“Got any eights?” Lance asked, propping his head on one hand while fanning out the small stack of cards in his other.

Pidge shook her head, shuffling through her own set of cards. “Go fish.”

“I’m gonna die,” Lance whined, slumping over the table between them.

“No, you’re not. Got any kings?” 

“What if she’s weirded out? What if—” 

_“Lance.”_

Lance opened his mouth to respond but froze as he heard footsteps echoing from the adjacent hallway. “Hold up, I think someone’s coming.” He dumped his cards on the table and walked over, glancing around the corner. He sighed as he caught sight of a familiar red-clad figure. “False alarm, it’s just Keith.” He was about to turn back when Keith stopped.

In front of the locker Lance had put the note in.

“Wait, what’s he doing?” Lance inched out into the hallway for a better look. He heard Pidge get up to stand next to him and she followed his gaze.

“Lance… which locker did you put the letter in?” she asked.

“A14.”

“Allura rents A15.”

Lance let out a shriek and dashed out into the hall. Keith looked up, startled.

“H-hey, buddy,” Lance forced a smile, leaning against the lockers in what he hoped looked like a casual pose. “How’s… how’s the whole… life… thing going?”

Keith eyed him warily. “What do you want, Lance?”

“I was…” Lance coughed into his hand. “I was just, uh… wondering if you’d like to… get a jumpstart on that project? Right—now,” He added hastily as Keith reached his hand into the locker.

Keith frowned at him. “I can’t. I’m busy.”

“Oh, that’s… that’s too bad.” Lance felt a wave of panic as Keith turned back to the locker, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Well I guess I’ll see you around, then,” Lance said quickly, turning away and hurrying down the hallway.

“Lance… what is this?”

Lance closed his eyes. _Damn it._

He turned back to where Keith was holding the opened letter in his hands, staring at Lance.

“It’s from you.” Keith narrowed his eyes. “Is this a joke?”

Lance stared at him for a moment, his mouth hanging open. He snapped it shut and forced a laugh. “Yes, yes, that’s exactly—it’s a joke, just a dumb joke. Funny, right?”

Keith glared at him, crumpling the letter in his hand. “Hilarious,” he growled, slamming the locker closed and marching away.

Lance frowned after him. What was that guy’s _problem?_

 

 

 

Lance dumped his plate unceremoniously on the table and sank down into his chair, burying his face in his hands.

“I’m gonna die, Pidge.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I still have to do that project with him and now he hates my guts! I finally get on good terms with the guy and then _this_ happens!”

“What happened?” Lance heard Hunk ask as he took the seat next to Pidge.

“Lance just made Keith his arch enemy,” Pidge said.

“Aw man, what’d you do that for?”

Lance shifted his fingers so he could glare through them. “I didn’t _try_ to! It was a freak accident and the guy couldn’t take a joke!”

Hunk gave him a knowing look. “Maybe you should just talk to him.”

Lance sighed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ll probably just make it worse. I can’t figure this guy out. One moment I think he’s finally starting to warm up to me, the next he’s back to hating me! I don’t even know what I’m doing wrong!”

“What if _I_ tried talking to him?” Hunk suggested.

Lance huffed. “You can try, but he’ll probably just end up hating you too.”

Hunk frowned thoughtfully. “So… how did the other thing go?”

“What other thing?”

Hunk raised an eyebrow, giving him an incredulous look. “The Allura thing?

“Oh, that.” Lance sighed. “I completely screwed it up. But I’ve got a new plan.” He took a deep breath, resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together. “I’m going to ask Allura to be my soulmate in person. At the dance tonight.”

 

 

 

Hunk weaved between the crowds of bustling people in the hallways, scanning through them until a flash of crimson caught his eye.

“Hey— Keith!” Hunk called, starting towards the red-clad figure. Keith turned and Hunk saw a flash of recognition cross his face before his expression turned cold and guarded. Hunk sighed. Lance certainly knew how to pick his enemies.

“Hey, man!” Hunk forced the best smile he could manage. “So, uh, first of all, it’s great to see you again! I mean, I know we never actually, like, talked or anything before, but it’s cool that you’re back. I’m Hunk, by the way,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Uh, nice to meet you,” Keith replied, taking his hand. His expression was still guarded, but some of the ice in it had melted.

“Alright, so, the other thing. Um. I know you and Lance didn’t really get off on the right foot, and I don’t know exactly what happened but I just wanted to let you know that Lance has been feeling really bad about the whole thing.”

Keith’s lips curled into a sneer. “Then why doesn’t he come apologize himself?”

Hunk shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Uh. Well, you’re kind of freaking him out.”

Keith narrowed his eyes.

“Not—not that you’re freaky or anything! It’s just— you have kind of an intimidating presence, you know? And— oh man, I’m just making this worse, aren’t I? Okay, I’m gonna start over. Look… Lance didn’t send me here to apologize for him. I wanted to try to diffuse the situation. I’ve known Lance almost my whole life; he’s a bit of a loudmouth and doesn’t have the best filter but he’s a good guy, and I know he’d never do anything to hurt anyone intentionally. I’m sure whatever happened between you two is just a big misunderstanding.”

Keith frowned, but his expression was thoughtful. “Maybe I did overreact a little. I just thought…” Keith flinched and looked away. “Uh, never mind.”

“You know, I think you guys could be good friends if you gave it a chance.”

Keith looked back at him, his expression faintly hopeful. “You think so?”

And, okay, this wasn’t what Hunk was expecting at all. He beamed, reaching over to pat Keith’s shoulder. Keith tensed a little at the touch but didn’t pull away.

“I know so. And I’ve got, like, a really good sense for this type of thing.”

Keith nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Hunk hummed. “Hey, uh… do you want to come to the dance with us? Lance, Pidge, and I, I mean. Oh, and Allura and Shay will probably be there too. Hopefully.”

“Nah. Not really my kind of thing.”

“Alright. Well, if you change your mind, you should come find us.”

Keith nodded again.

“Hunk!” a voice called out.

Hunk looked over his shoulder to see Lance waving him over.

“Sorry, I should probably—” Hunk started, turning back to Keith, but he stopped as he realized that Keith was gone.

 

 

 

Lance frowned at the mirror, smoothing the edges of his dark blue suit before turning to face his best friend.

“So? How do I look?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Hunk draped his hand over his face dramatically, leaning back on his bed in a mock swoon. Lance grinned as he went to sit on the edge of his own bed, pulling a small silver ring from his pocket. Across the room, Hunk inched forward.

“Is that… your soul band?”

Lance nodded.

“Ah, man,” Hunk sighed, rubbing his hand over his mouth. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

“Hey, what’s that look for?”

“It’s just… I know you really want to find your soulmate, but don’t you think you’re rushing into this a little bit? I mean, I know you and Allura get along well enough, but… asking someone to be your soulmate is a huge step. Like, you’ll be _soul bound._ Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Lance opened his mouth to insist that he was, in fact, ready, and that he had been that way for a while now thank you very much, but found himself hesitating and bit his lip instead. He looked back down at the ring, letting his friend’s words turn over in his mind and watching the way the ring glowed faintly bluish in the light.

He jumped at a sudden knock at the door and set the ring on his desk before getting up to answer it, avoiding Hunk’s meaningful gaze. He opened the door to see Pidge standing in the hallway wearing a bright emerald dress, her tawny brown hair pulled up into a ponytail. She squinted up at him.

“So… you guys ready to go, or what?”

Lance looked over his shoulder to see Hunk ambling towards the door, running his fingers through his dark hair nervously and fidgeting with his bright yellow tie.

“You look great, Hunk,” Lance assured him.

Hunk gave him a weak smile.

“Hunk always looks great,” Pidge added. “Now come on, Allura and Shay are waiting for us downstairs.”

Lance let out a high-pitched squeak that he would later deny making at the mention of Allura and started down the hall. Pidge and Hunk fell in step beside him and they continued in silence, Lance still mulling over Hunk’s words.

As they neared the bottom of the stairwell, Lance caught sight of Allura and Shay standing near the front desk of the lobby in the midst of a conversation. Allura was dressed in a long fuchsia dress that sparkled where it hit the light with a sky blue shawl draped over her shoulders, her silvery hair drawn up in a neat bun and a brilliant smile on her lips. Lance may have ended up falling down the last few steps.

“Are you alright?” Allura’s companion, a muscular girl with dark skin and short curly hair, asked, rushing over to help Lance up.

“Y-yeah. Thanks, Shay,” Lance said with a sheepish grin. He winked at Allura, who was hovering near Shay’s shoulder, her face pinched in concern. “Just can’t help falling for you, Princess.”

Allura rolled her eyes. “He’s fine. Shall we get going?”

They started outside and Lance tugged the collar of his suit closer against the cold night air. The dimly lit campus felt strangely otherworldly as they made their way through the courtyard.

Hunk and Shay immediately fell in step, their hands locking together. Shay confirmed that Hunk did, in fact, look amazing, and Hunk’s shoulders fell in visible relief. Hunk nervously recited the pick-up line Lance had taught him beforehand and Shay giggled, sending Lance a knowing look. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

When they reached the middle of the courtyard, Lance stopped in his tracks, patting down his suit pockets. He cursed under his breath. Allura glanced back, frowning.

“Everything alright, Lance?”

“Uh, y-yeah. Just— forgot something back at my dorm. I’ll catch up.” He smiled weakly before turning away.

He made his way back to his dorm and snatched the ring off of his desk before heading back down to join the others. As he walked back through the quiet courtyard, he stared down at the bluish silver ring in his hands, going over the words he had been practicing in his mind all night while summoning every ounce of courage he had.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice there was someone standing in front of him until he slammed into them, causing them both to crumple to the ground.

Lance groaned, sitting up. “Watch where you’re going!” he snapped at the other person, rubbing his elbow.

“I wasn’t _going_ anywhere!” the other bit back. “I was just standing here and you—” The boy’s eyes widened. “Lance?”

“Keith? What are you—” Lance froze. “Oh no.” He frantically started shuffling through the thin layer of snow covering the courtyard, letting out a small whine.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked, leaning forward and staring at the ground in confusion.

“My— my ring, I dropped my ring—” Just then, Lance saw a small flash of silver against the snow, but he wasn’t the only one who noticed it, and Keith’s hand darted towards it.

“No, wait, don’t—!” Lance started, but it was too late. Keith’s hand closed around the ring and the faint bluish glow around it flashed scarlet. Keith let out a yelp and dropped the ring, scrambling backwards as an explosion of color erupted from it. Blue and red flames wrapped around them in a fiery cyclone, mixing together into a brilliant shade of violet before dissipating as suddenly as they had appeared.

For a moment, Lance and Keith sat in stunned silence. Lance breathed in sharply as he felt a prickle of pain in his arm, and he pulled his sleeve back with shaking hands.

Several bright scarlet lines on his forearm unfurled before his eyes, as if an invisible hand was painting on him with red ink. The lines converged together in the shape of a red lion and Lance slowly brushed his fingers over it with a shaky breath before looking back up at Keith.

On Keith’s outstretched arm was a matching blue lion. Keith stared down at it in disbelief before looking back up at Lance with wide, accusing eyes.

“What did you do?”

Lance shook his head, pressing his palm to his forehead. This had to be a nightmare. “You… you took my soul band.”

“I—” Keith looked like he was about to protest, but then he looked back at the ring on the ground between them and the color drained from his face.

“Lance?”

Lance looked up to see Allura striding towards them, her bright rose dress fluttering in the wind. She smiled when he met her gaze.

“There you are! Everyone’s waiting for you, what—” She stopped, her gaze flitting from Lance to Keith before finally resting on their outstretched arms. She gasped, clasping her hands together before rushing towards Lance and pulling him into a hug.

“You’re— oh my goodness, this is— I— I’m so happy for you both!” She smiled at them, leaning over to squeeze Keith’s shoulder. Keith stared at her blankly. She turned back to Lance, ruffling his hair. “Oh, Lance, I always knew you would find someone!” She abruptly pulled back, her eyes widening. “I’m sorry— I didn’t mean to intrude or anything, I just— well, I should just give you some privacy, right?” She nodded to herself before getting up and starting back across the courtyard, sending Lance one last dazzling smile.

“Oh no,” Lance said quietly. “Oh no no no this can’t be happening…”

“Lance, if this is a prank or something, it’s _not funny,_ ” Keith hissed, his gaze burning with fury. “What the hell did you do!?”

Lance glared back. “I didn’t do anything! You’re the one who— what are you even _doing_ here?”

Keith’s eyes widened and the anger behind them faded. “I… I came here to talk to you.” He looked away. “I talked with your friend. Hunk, I think his name was? He’s a good guy, and he talked highly of you. I thought… I thought maybe I was wrong about you.”

Keith scowled at Lance, standing up.

“I guess not.” Keith yanked the sleeve of his jacket down over the tattoo before storming away.

 

 

 

“Guys… I have a problem.” Lance leaned against the wall of the hallway, nervously running his fingers through his hair.

Across from him, Pidge crossed her arms, giving him an incredulous look. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we figured as much after you showed up fifteen minutes late and practically dragged us away screaming ‘I have a problem.’ So, do you want to clue us in on what that problem _is,_ or…”

Lance sighed and pulled back the sleeve of his suit, revealing the scarlet lion printed on his arm.

Pidge’s eyes widened. “Oh my god, Allura said yes!?”

Hunk leaned forward to get a better view before shaking his head. “Aw, man… I told you to think this through.”

“It’s not Allura!” Lance said, his voice cracking. “It’s Keith!”

Pidge blinked at him. “You’re in love with Keith now?”

“No! That’s the problem!”

Pidge exchanged a glance with Hunk.

“Yeah, no, you lost me,” Hunk said. “Why don’t you just… slow down and start from the beginning?”

Lance chewed his lip, pacing down the hallway. “I went back to our room to get the ring and then of course _Keith_ was there—“

“Keith was in our _room!?”_

“What!? No! He pushed me down!”

“He did _what!?”_

“Well, I mean, it wasn’t on purpose and it may have kind of been a little bit my fault, but—”

“Get to the _point,_ Lance,” Pidge interrupted.

 _“We’re soul bound!”_ Lance shrieked.

“Who’s soul bound?”

“Me! And Keith!”

“Ohhh.” Hunk nodded, then his eyes widened. “Wait, _what!?”_

“HowdoIfixthis!?” Lance waved his marked arm in front of him frantically.

“You…” Pidge rubbed the bridge of her nose. “You _soul bound_ yourself to Keith?”

“Not on purpose!”

Pidge muttered something that sounded like “good lord” under her breath and sighed. “Alright, meet me in the library in twenty minutes.”

“What about the dance?”

Pidge shrugged, already starting towards the exit. “Don’t worry about it. This dress is getting kind of itchy anyways.”

Hunk glanced after her, his expression conflicted. Lance reached over and patted his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got this.”

Hunk sent him a grateful smile and headed back towards the dance floor. Lance started in the opposite direction, pulling his sleeve down over his soul mark.

 

 

 

Lance pushed the glass doors of the library open, grateful for the sudden rush of warm air. Pidge was already set up at a desk near the front window with her laptop and a stack of books, and she waved him over.

“So, do you want the good news or the bad news?” she asked as he sat down across from her.

“Uh… let’s start with the bad?”

Pidge sighed, the top of her head barely visible over her laptop. “I haven’t found anything yet. Information about how to remove soul marks is extremely hard to find for some reason.”

Lance nodded, biting his lip. “And the good news?”

Pidge lowered her laptop screen a few inches so she could make eye contact, her face pinched in concern. “Well… at least now you have a soulmate like you’ve always wanted?”

Lance groaned, burying his head into his hands. He heard the front door chime and glanced over his shoulder. “Hunk? What are you doing here?”

Hunk gave him a sheepish look as he walked to the table, still wearing his formal suit. “Shay told me to go find you. I think she could tell I was worried. How are you feeling?”

Lance groaned again. “Like I just ruined my best friend’s date.”

Hunk sat beside him and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, dude. I’ll head back soon. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I know how much this all means to you.”

Lance felt his mouth pull into a shaky smile. “Thanks, man.” He grabbed one of the books from Pidge’s stack and started flipping through it.

“Wait, I think I found something,” Pidge piped up. “It says that if two people aren’t compatible, the soul mark will fade with time.”

“How _much_ time?” Lance pressed, leaning forward.

“Anywhere from a couple weeks to a few years.”

“A few _years_? I can’t be bound to Keith for _years!”_

As if on cue, the door chimed again, and Lance peered over his shoulder to see none other than Keith himself stride in. Keith’s eyes widened as he caught sight of Lance, but he quickly narrowed them into a glare before heading to one of the tables near the back.

“See what I mean?” Lance hissed.

Hunk nudged his side. “Why don’t you try talking to him?”

Lance scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Nuh uh. Been there, done that. If he wants to sit there alone and miserable, let him.”

“I really don’t think he’s as bad of a guy as you make him out to be.”

“Whose side are you on here?” Lance snapped, scowling at Hunk.

Hunk held his hands up in placation. “I—I’m not trying to pick sides, I just think—“ He cast a desperate look at Pidge, who sighed and closed her laptop.

“Look, it’s probably best if you try to get on good terms with Keith before the side effects set in,” she said.

“Before the…” Lance groaned, rubbing his palm against his forehead. “Oh, no.”

Hunk nodded in agreement. “The first couple weeks were the worst. It was stressful enough with Shay, but with someone you barely know—” Hunk caught sight of Lance’s expression and immediately started backtracking. “It—it’ll probably be fine. Yeah.”

“We’re just trying to say that this is going to be complicated enough without the two of you pretending to hate each other,” Pidge explained.

“Pretending?” Lance scowled down at his book, flipping through the pages roughly. “Who’s pretending? It’s obvious the guy can’t stand me and… and the feeling’s mutual. Let’s just find a way to fix this and get it over with.”

“Lance,” Pidge said quietly, her voice softening, “there might not _be_ a way to fix this. I mean, there’s a reason everyone says to be careful with your soul band. Aside from waiting for it to wear off, there might not be anything we can do.”

Hunk nodded. “The best thing to do right now might be to try to make amends. It’ll make it easier on both of you. I mean, Keith’s probably as freaked out about this whole thing as you are.”

Lance huffed and pushed his chair back. “Fine, fine. I’ll try to work things out with Jerky McJerkface. But when this inevitably blows up in _my_ face, I get to say I told you so.”

Lance started towards the table in the back and Keith looked up as he approached, his eyes narrowing and his lips pulling into a sneer. Lance’s good intentions quickly went out the window.

“Alright, what is your _problem!?”_ Lance snapped. “Look, I don’t like this any more than you do, but you don’t have to act like— like it physically _hurts_ you to look at me!” He knew he was playing with fire and he fully expected to get burned, but instead all traces of hostility fell from Keith’s face, replaced by confusion.

“You don’t know?”

“Know… what?”

“Uh.” Keith quickly looked down, fidgeting with the corner of his book. “Nothing. I just thought you were making fun of me because I’m—” Keith’s eyes widened and he paused for a moment before finishing with an anticlimactic “…uh.”

Lance frowned. “What? You seriously think I would _soul bind_ myself to you as a joke? Dude, that’s— that’s not even _funny!_ Like, what would even be the punchline to that?”

Keith nodded, still looking anywhere but at Lance. “Yeah, I… I guess.” He bit his lip. “I’m sorry for what I said before.”

“Don’t worry about it. And uh… I’m sorry for getting us into this whole mess.”

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault.”

They were silent for a moment, both refusing to meet the other’s gaze.

Lance cleared his throat. “So, we’re good then?”

Keith studied him for a moment before nodding.  “Yeah. We’re good.”

Lance nodded. “Alright. Cool.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, humming. “So, do you want to, uh…” He gestured back to the table Pidge and Hunk were stationed at. “Join us, I guess? We’re trying to find a way to fix this mess.”

Keith nodded. “I am. I mean, sure. I mean, I’ve already been looking.” He pointed to the book in front of him. “For a way to fix this.”

Lance nodded. “Alright, cool. So, is that a yes, or…”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

Keith got up to follow Lance back to the table. Hunk looked up as they approached, a grin splitting across his face before he mouthed “I told you so” at Lance. Lance stuck his tongue out at him.

“Alright, so, Keith, this is Hunk and Pidge. Hunk and Pidge, this is Keith.”

“So we’ve heard,” Pidge mumbled. The three of them exchanged greetings and Lance took the seat next to Hunk while Keith sat next to Pidge.

Hunk hummed, pretending to glance at an imaginary watch on his wrist. “Oh, man, I should probably get back to Shay,” he announced before clearing his throat.

Pidge’s head popped up from behind her computer. “Oh, right. I just remembered, I have to get up early for a class tomorrow, so I should probably head back.”

Lance stared at her. “Tomorrow’s Saturday, Pidge.”

“Online class.” Pidge met his gaze evenly.

“That doesn’t even make—”

“Right, well, have fun, kids,” Hunk said as he stood up, ruffling Lance’s hair. Lance let out an indignant squawk and swatted his hand away.

“You can borrow my laptop, just bring it back to me when you’re done. Also, if you break it, I _will_ kill you,” Pidge said, pushing the laptop towards Lance. “I’ve got a few sites open that look like they’ve got potential.”

Lance glared at her and she returned his gaze with an innocent smile before getting up after Hunk. Keith sent Lance a questioning look as Lance’s two friends abandoned him.

“Uh…” Lance paused, considering how to explain whatever the hell _that_ was before he settled on sending Keith an apologetic smile and gesturing to the seat next to him. “Do you want to…?”

Keith switched to the seat beside Lance, and Lance pushed the computer in between them. They scrolled through Pidge’s sites in brief silence before breaking into small talk as each website led to more dead ends. Lance groaned and leaned back in his chair as the minutes turned into hours, and Keith took over in front of the computer, his brow becoming increasingly furrowed.

“Keith, what if we’re stuck like this?” Lance whined.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find something,” Keith assured him, but his own voice was starting to sound doubtful. “Hey, what about this one? ‘Everything You Need to Know About Soul Marks’ by Honerva Daibazaal. Looks like it’s got good reviews, people seem to recommend it.” He shrugged. “Worth a shot, right?”

“Do they have it here?”

“Nah, looks like you’ve got to order it online. It’s—” Keith clicked the page and breathed in sharply.

“A hundred and sixty dollars!?” Lance choked out, leaning forward.

Keith sighed. “It might be our only chance. Everything else has been a dead end. We could split the cost? I mean, it’s partially my fault we’re in this mess. And we can always resell it later.”

Lance hesitantly agreed and Keith clicked the checkout button.

“We can go a few months without food, right?” Lance let out a resigned sigh, leaning his arm on the table. Keith nodded solemnly.

“Should we get overnight shipping?”

“Dunno. How much is it?”

Keith clicked the overnight box and they exchanged looks of mutual horror.

“Standard it is, then,” Lance murmured quietly.

Keith finished filling out the checkout page and leaned back in his chair.

“Guess that’s it, then. It should get here in about a week.”

Lance yawned, stretching his arms over his head. “Alright, well, I dunno about you, but I’m going to bed.”

Keith nodded in agreement and closed the laptop, pushing it back towards Lance before standing and snatching his red leather jacket from where he had draped it over the back of his chair. Lance stood up after him, hugging the laptop close to his chest because he had no doubt that Pidge would keep her word should anything happen to it.

Keith held the door open and Lance mumbled a quick “thank you” before stepping out into the courtyard and immediately regretting everything that led to this moment.

“Bloody hell, why is it so _cold!?”_ Lance hissed, glaring out at the offending frozen courtyard.

Keith frowned. “Didn’t you bring a jacket?”

“I’ve had a lot on my mind today, Keith.”

“Uh.” Keith looked away, clearing his throat before quickly pulling off his jacket and draping it over Lance’s shoulders. His face flushed red and he took a few steps back, staring down at the ground so intently Lance was worried he’d burn a hole into it. “I’m used to the cold,” he explained, still averting his gaze.

Lance felt his own face begin to heat up. “Thanks,” he mumbled. “But, are you sure…?”

Keith nodded. “Let’s just uh, start walking?”

“Right,” Lance said, starting toward the residential hall. “Hey, my friends and I are thinking of going to lunch tomorrow, wanna come with?”

“I can’t tomorrow. I’m going to stay with my brother over the weekend.”

“Aw, okay. But we’re still on for Voltron on Wednesday, right?”

Keith glanced up at him, surprised. “You still want me to go to that?”

“Well, yeah. I did invite you, didn’t I?”

“Oh. I thought… I mean, yeah. I’d like that.”

“Alright. Cool.”

“Cool,” Keith repeated, pushing the door to the lobby open. Lance hurried inside, grateful for the warm air. Keith looked back at him, his brow furrowing. “Well, I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah. See you around, Keith.”

It was only after Lance got back to his room that he realized he had forgotten to give Keith his jacket back.

 

 

 

The next time Lance saw Keith was on a dreary Monday morning in the dining center. He was just about to sit down at Pidge and Hunk’s table when he caught sight of Keith and Allura sitting together near the center of the room.

“They seem awfully _chummy,”_ he muttered bitterly, slumping down into his seat.

Pidge and Hunk were engaged in some complicated technobabble that Lance couldn’t bring himself to follow, his gaze constantly flitting to Keith and Allura’s table. Keith said something he couldn’t hear and Allura covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

Lance slammed his fork on the table. “Alright, that’s _it.”_

Pidge and Hunk stared at him blankly. Without bothering to give an explanation, Lance snatched up his tray and marched towards the table at the center of the room, squeezing in on the bench between Keith and Allura before sending the latter a dazzling smile. “Miss me, beautiful?”

Allura rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder. Keith huffed beside him. Pidge and Hunk took a seat on the bench across from them, still looking bewildered, but Hunk gave Keith a friendly wave.

Allura suddenly turned to Lance, clasping her hands together excitedly. “Oh, Lance, I never got the chance to formally congratulate you!”

Lance frowned. “On what?”

“Your engagement, of course.”

“Oh,” Lance said, slouching. “That.”

“I have to admit, I was a bit surprised at first, but you two are definitely a good match.”

Lance’s fork fell from his hand. Keith choked on his water.

“Yeah, see, the thing about that is—” Lance paused, biting his lip. There was no way he could tell Allura the truth without revealing that he was planning to give the ring to someone else, and from there, it wouldn’t be hard for her to put two and two together. He hadn’t exactly been subtle about his crush on her. He decided this was definitely _not_ how he wanted to confess to the love of his life.

Lance smiled weakly. “Uh, nothing. I was just thinking about something else.”

“Oh,” Allura said, frowning in confusion. Lance picked up his fork again and half-heartedly prodded at the potatoes on his plate. From the corner of his vision, he saw Keith raise an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, shoot,” Allura said, glancing at the clock on her phone. She sent the group an apologetic smile. “My next class is starting soon, I have to get going. I’ll see you around? Oh, and congratulations again, Lance!”

“Yeah, thanks,” Lance grumbled. As soon as she was out of sight, he pushed his tray forward and let his head fall to the table, groaning.

Keith poked his shoulder. “Is he always like this?”

“More or less,” Pidge replied.

“Guys, I’m having a crisis here,” Lance whined.

“Oh, and I’m not?” Keith said flatly.

Lance lifted his head, sighing. “Yeah, well, you don’t have to deal with the love of your life thinking you’re engaged to someone else.” He shook his head. “Did you see her? She wasn’t even upset! She was _happy_ for me!” He glared at the tray in front of him.

“The nerve,” Pidge mumbled sarcastically.

Keith glanced down at the watch on his wrist. “I should probably get going too,” he said, moving to stand up.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” Lance said, grabbing Keith’s sleeve before he could walk off. “Give me your phone.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed. “What? Why?”

“Relax, I’m not going to break it or anything, just give it to me so I can put my number in.”

Keith frowned but unlocked his phone and handed it to Lance, who quickly added his number and gave it back.

Keith snorted. “Were the three lines of emojis after your name really necessary?”

“Absolutely. Now text me so I have your number.” Lance’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to see that an unknown number had sent him an emoji flipping him off. “Wow. Rude.”

Keith watched over Lance’s shoulder as he typed in his contact. “Hey, my name isn’t ‘Mullet’!”

Lance snickered as he entered the name. “It is now.”

 

 

 

Keith was in the middle of half-heartedly reviewing his political science notes in his dorm when his phone lit up with a soft ding. He stared at it for a moment before tentatively picking it up.

 _Lance:  
_ _Wait which room are you in_

 _Keith:_  
_14B on the 5 th floor  
_ _Why?_

 _Lance:  
_ _Ok give me a sec_

 _Keith:  
_ _For what??_

Keith waited a moment, drumming his fingers on his desk until it became clear that Lance had no intention of responding. He sighed, dropping the phone back on his desk and turning back to his textbook.

Just as a snowball struck his window.

He jumped at the sound and stared at the window for a moment before getting up and pushing it open. Almost immediately, another snowball flew past him, narrowly missing his head and exploding on the wall behind him. He glared down at the courtyard beneath him.

“What the hell, Lance?”

“Whoops, sorry about that one,” Lance called, grinning. Then his smile faded. “Hey, how come you don’t have a screen on your window?”

Keith shrugged. “Dunno. It’s been like that since I got here.”

“Isn’t that kinda dangerous? What if you fall out?”

“I’m not gonna fall out of a window, Lance.”

Lance frowned up at him, looking unconvinced.

“So… are you going to tell me why you’re throwing snowballs at my window, or…”

“Oh, right!” Lance said, instantly brightening. “I’m here to abduct you!”

“Uh.”

“You’re free now, right? We’re all going for lunch. Wanna come?”

“You could’ve just texted me that.”

“Where’s the fun in _that?”_ Lance scoffed. “So, you in or not?”

Keith hesitated a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I’m in.”

“Great!” Lance beamed. “Meet you down at the lobby?”

Keith nodded again and pulled the window closed, stopping to grab the black wool jacket he had borrowed from Shiro from where he had draped it over the back of his chair. He couldn’t help but make a face when he pulled it on; it was much too large and far more itchy than it was worth, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember where he had left his favorite red jacket. He rolled up the sleeves and grabbed his wallet and phone before starting down to the lobby.

Lance looked up from his phone as Keith made his way down the stairs, his mouth quirking into a lopsided grin. “Ready?”

Keith nodded and followed Lance outside. “Where’s everyone else?”

“I told them I’d meet them there. Pidge and Hunk’s class ends a half hour before mine, and Allura has the day off.” He frowned. “We’ll probably have to catch the bus, though. Is that okay?”

“Oh. Well, my truck got back from the shop this weekend, so I can drive us if you want. It’s parked a couple blocks away.”

Lance nodded, reaching up and lacing his hands behind his head. “Sure. Lead the way, Mullet.”

Keith scowled at him and Lance grinned.

“What? It’s not my fault your hair’s trapped in the last century.”

Keith huffed and shoved his hands into his pockets as they continued down the sidewalk towards the front of the university. His gaze was drawn to the dark clouds looming over them and he pulled his jacket closer against the cold air. He wondered if it would snow.

“Probably not,” Lance said. “Supposed to tomorrow, though.”

Keith froze in his tracks. Lance glanced back, giving Keith a questioning look before realization crossed his face and his mouth dropped open.

“You, uh. You didn’t say that out loud, did you?”

For a moment, they both stood in silence. Then Lance threw his hands up in exasperation. “Alright. Sure. Yeah. Why not? This is totally— totally fine.” He whirled around and walked away so quickly Keith had to jog to catch up to him, his mind still trying to process this new development.

They continued in silence for a while before Keith cleared his throat, deciding on changing the subject.

“So, where are we going?”

He thought he noticed some of the tension in Lance’s shoulders fall. “The pizzeria near Olkarion Street. You ever been?”

Keith shook his head. “Don’t eat out much.”

“Ah. Well, I think you’ll like it. It’s pretty cheap, too. Hunk’s soulmate works there so we go all the time.” Lance stuffed his hands in his pockets, pulling out a small slip of paper that looked like a receipt and continuously folding and unfolding it in his hands as he walked. Keith watched him, finding the motion oddly mesmerizing.

“Does it go both ways?”

“What?” Keith asked, realizing he had lost track of the conversation.

“You know, the whole mind-meld thing. I mean, can you hear _my_ thoughts?”

“I haven’t heard anything.”

“Well maybe you just need to listen.”

Keith shrugged. “Maybe there’s nothing to hear.”

“Okay, first of all, _rude._ Second—” Lance pulled in front of Keith and turned so he was facing him, walking backwards. “Just _try._ What am I thinking about right now?”

Keith stared at him blankly. Try to _what?_ How was he supposed to do this?

“Nothing?” Lance asked.

Keith shook his head.

Lance sighed dramatically, shoving his hands back into his jacket pockets. “Ah well, that’s probably for the best. I doubt you could handle the sheer brilliance of my mind anyways.”

“Your brilliant mind is about to walk into a pole,” Keith pointed out.

 

 

They came to a nearly vacant parking lot in front of a construction store and Keith led them to a beat-up red pickup truck, pulling his keys out of his pocket.

“Wow. I didn’t think it was possible, but your truck might be even more out-of-date than your hairstyle,” Lance teased.

Keith glared at him over the hood of the truck. “You can walk.”

“Nuh uh. You already offered to give me a ride. No take backs.” To emphasize his point, Lance sat himself down in the passenger seat and crossed his arms over his chest. Keith got in after him, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

“You know how to get there from here?” Keith asked as he backed out.

Lance nodded. “Take a left when you get out of the parking lot.”

Lance continued giving directions as they drove, but for the most part they stayed in comfortable silence. Keith turned on the radio and Lance allowed his mind to wander, leading them to discover that the weird mind-meld thing did, in fact, go both ways.

“This song is a classic,” Keith protested in response to Lance’s less-than-favorable subconscious response to it.

Lance snorted. “Classic _junk,_ maybe. Can you check something for me?”

“What?” Keith asked warily.

“My ears. I think they’re bleeding.”

“I will leave you on the side of the road,” Keith threatened, but Lance noticed the corner of his mouth quirk up in a smile as he reached over to change the radio station.

They fell back into silence again after that, and Lance leaned against the window, watching the world pass by them. Eventually, his gaze slipped down to his arm, and he pulled back the sleeve just enough to see the edge of the crimson lion tattoo. The color didn’t seem to be fading at all; if anything, it looked brighter than ever. He frowned, brushing his fingers over the red ink.

Lance had often watched Hunk trace over the brilliant orange sparrow tattoo on his arm and envied the soft, distant smile that crept over his friend’s face. Lance was happy for him, of course, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. He wanted someone to share his life with more than almost anything.

He used to imagine what it would be like to go on his first date with his soulmate, constructing elaborate plans and playing them out in his head.

Somehow, sitting in a beat-up red pickup truck in the middle of traffic while listening to outdated rock music next to a guy with a _mullet_ of all things wasn’t exactly what Lance had in mind.

“It’s not a mullet,” Mullet Guy protested.

“Stop reading my mind!”

“Then stop thinking so loud!”

 

 

 

They arrived at the pizzeria and Lance texted the rest of the group to let them know as he and Keith walked up to the entrance. Keith was about to pull the door open when Lance stopped him, grabbing his sleeve. Keith looked back at him questioningly.

“Uh.” Lance paused, grimacing. “So… Allura may kinda sorta still be under the impression that the two of us are, you know, together.”

Keith’s brow furrowed and he moved away from the door as a group of people came up to it. “You didn’t tell her? Why?”

“Well…” Lance shifted his weight uncomfortably, looking away. “She’s… kinda the person I was going to ask to be my soulmate. And this is definitely not how I want to tell her that.”

“So…”

“So, do you think we can keep the act up a bit longer? Just until this whole mess blows over?” Lance forced himself to meet Keith’s gaze.

Keith stared at him, his expression unreadable. “You want me to pretend to be your soulmate?”

“We’d only have to keep it up while Allura’s around. And then once the mark fades, we can just say that it didn’t work out or whatever.”

Keith shook his head. “That’s a terrible idea.”

“Yeah, well, you got a better one?”

“Yes. Just tell her.”

Lance snorted. “Oh yeah, sure, that’ll go over well. ‘Hey, Allura, so I was gonna ask you to be my soulmate, but I ended up being bound to Keith instead by accident.’ Dude, that’s _not_ how I want to confess to the love of my life.”

Keith huffed, bunching up his shoulders and looking away. “Fine,” he said.

“You’ll do it?”

“Yeah.”

Lance grinned. “Great! Keith, you’re the best.”

Keith’s mouth twitched into a small smile. “Yeah, I know.”

Lance walked back to the entrance and was about to pull the door open when Keith called him back.

“Wait, so, should we…” Keith’s face flushed red and he looked away. “I don’t know, hold hands or something?”

Lance felt his own face heat up. “Uh. I mean. I guess? If that’s okay,” he added quickly.

Keith nodded. “Yeah. I mean, it’s whatever.”

“Okay. Cool.” Lance pulled the door open and immediately caught sight of Hunk standing from his seat to wave them over. Keith fell in step beside him as they walked towards the table, his hand slipping into Lance’s and lacing their fingers together. Lance cleared his throat, trying to keep his expression and posture as nonchalant as possible to hide the way his heart was now pounding in his chest.

“What about Pidge and Hunk?” Keith asked quietly. “Do they know about this?”

“Yeah. Well, sort of. I just told them to play along with whatever.”

The rest of the group greeted them enthusiastically as they got to the table.

“Did you guys order already?” Lance asked as he slipped into the seat next to Hunk. Keith took the seat across from him, next to Pidge.

“Not yet,” Pidge said.

“Aw man, you guys didn’t have to wait for us!”

“It’s cool!” Hunk assured him, patting Lance’s shoulder. “It’s a slow day so Shay said we could have the table for as long as we’d like. We’ve just been catching up.”

“Speaking of catching up,” Allura said, clasping her hands together and resting them on the table from where she sat next to Pidge, looking between Lance and Keith expectantly. “You’re soulmates.”

Beside him, Lance saw Hunk become suddenly fascinated by the glass of water in front of him, staying true to his earlier statement of “this has ‘bad idea’ written all over it and I’m not getting involved.” Pidge, at least, had offered to change the subject if Lance got in over his head.

“Uh.” Lance cleared his throat. “Yeah. That is. Definitely a thing that happened.”

Across from him, Keith sent him an exasperated look. Lance kicked at his shoes lightly under the table.

Allura seemed to notice Lance’s discomfort and immediately began backtracking. “It’s alright if you’d rather not talk about it. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“It— it’s fine. It’s just, it’s so new you know? The whole... having other people know about it thing, not the dating thing. I mean, we’ve been dating for like, forever, ‘cause we’re uh, we’re soulmates right?” To emphasize his point, Lance winked and shot finger guns at Keith, who immediately flushed red.

Allura laughed lightly. “I have no idea how you managed to find someone who puts up with your antics,” she said. Her voice was teasing and Lance knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of hurt. After countless rejections, her remark hit a bit too close to home. He constantly felt like he was simultaneously too much and not enough— too loud, too annoying, never good enough.

But he quickly pushed the thought away with a joke and a smile, and everything was fine until he looked back at Keith, who was staring at him questioningly, his expression a mix of confusion and concern.

_Oh, no._

Keith opened his mouth to say something, but Lance decided he was definitely _not_ ready to have his self-esteem issues thrown out on the table like that and cut him off.

“Hey, Hunk,” Lance said, nudging his friend’s shoulder, “Keith says he doesn’t like Voltron.”

_“What!?”_

“That’s not what I said!” Keith protested. “I just said it was okay!”

“’Okay!?’” Hunk repeated incredulously. “Dude, were you even _there_ for the whole Balmera arc? Or when the castle got possessed by a ghost? And when they found out one of their own teammates is part Galra? And—” and he was gone, launching into a detailed retelling of all five films from start to finish.

Keith shot Lance a look that very clearly said _this isn’t over_ , but Lance knew once Hunk started talking Voltron all other conversations were a lost cause. The only thing that managed to temporarily pull Hunk back to reality was Shay stopping by the table to ask if they were ready to order.

At first, Lance worried that Keith wasn’t enjoying himself at all. While the rest of the group was noisy and energetic, Keith remained quiet and closed off, watching the rest of them with his head propped on his hand. But whenever someone tried to pull him into the conversation, Keith went easily, and his features softened as he laughed along with them.

He was still quiet compared to the rest of them, but whenever Lance looked back at him, Keith had a soft, almost fond smile on his face as he watched the others. Lance felt his face flush when that smile was finally directed at him.

“I should probably get going,” Keith said, “but thanks for inviting me. I had— this was nice.”

“It is getting rather late,” Allura mused. “Shall we call it?”

The others nodded in agreement and left Shay a generous tip before getting up to leave. By that time, Lance had almost completely forgotten about Keith reading his mind.

However, it quickly became apparent that Keith hadn’t.

“Can I talk to you?” Keith asked quietly as he fell into step beside Lance, his brow furrowed in concern.

Allura glanced back at them, her lips pursed into a small frown, and Lance jumped as he felt Keith’s hand quickly grab his.

“Uh. Yeah. Sure. Of course. Just maybe… can it wait ‘til we get outside?”

Keith nodded and they followed the rest of the group in silence, pausing at the entrance as Hunk pulled away from the group to say goodbye to Shay, promising to meet them outside. Allura and Pidge sat on the benches just outside the door and Keith glanced at Lance, his eyes questioning. Lance sighed and nodded, letting Keith pull him away.

“So… what’s up?” Lance asked when they were alone, his breath turning to fog in the cold night air. Keith frowned for a moment, staring at the ground and fidgeting with the sleeves of the black wool jacket that looked far too big on him. It was kind of cute, Lance noted.

“Do you really think that?”

Lance let out a tiny squeak he hoped Keith didn’t hear and felt his face flush. “Do I… do I think what now?”

“You know… what you said… well, not _said,_ but… I mean… earlier. About not being good enough.”

Lance’s momentary relief quickly faded into something cold and bitter. He shrugged, forcing a laugh and trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “I mean, it’s kinda obvious, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?” Keith asked, finally lifting his gaze to meet Lance’s. “Look, I may not know you that well, but… you’re kind, and funny, and… and good with people, and you’re… you’re special.” Keith grimaced. “Look, I know I’m not great with words, but you shouldn’t think that.”

Lance stared at him for a moment, trying to remember how words worked. “…Ah,” he managed to say.

“Oh… oh no… I said something wrong, didn’t I? I wasn’t trying to—“

Lance choked out a laugh. “No, you idiot, you didn’t— I just—“ He took a breath, shaking his head. “I guess I just… I didn’t expect to hear that from _you_ , of all people.”

Keith frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? Dude, you’re— you’re Keith Kogane, you’re effortlessly good at everything, you don’t even have to _try_ to be cool, you just _are,_ everyone knows who you are, and I— I guess I used to look up to you, but then I thought you _hated_ me, and— and—“ Lance knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop the words from spilling out.

“You…” Keith was staring at Lance as though Lance had just confessed to secretly being from outer space. “You looked up to me?”

Lance snorted. “You don’t even know how cool you are, do you? Figures.”

Keith looked away, red dusting his face. “No one’s ever called me cool before.”

“Yeah, well, they’re probably just jealous.”

“But they shouldn’t be. I’m not… I don’t even know what I’m doing. I screwed up, I got kicked out, and I’m not good at everything. I—” He paused, glancing up at the door, and Lance followed his gaze.

Hunk sent them a questioning look as he stepped outside. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, just give us a sec,” Lance said. Hunk nodded, going to sit with Pidge and Allura. Lance turned back to Keith, who looked like he was about to say something else. “Can I hug you?” Lance interrupted before he could stop himself.

Keith’s eyes widened and the red returned to his face. “I… sure, I mean, yeah, you can—” Before he could finish Lance rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Keith and squeezing him tightly, resting his chin on Keith’s shoulder.

“Maybe you’re not perfect,” Lance said quietly, “but, for the record, I still think you’re pretty great.” He quickly pulled away and turned around without waiting to see Keith’s reaction.

 

 

 

When Keith woke up the next morning, everything was blue. He groaned and buried his face in his pillow.

His phone went off with a soft ding, breaking him out of his bout of self-pity. Without lifting his head, he reached out towards the desk at the head of his bed and ran his hand over the surface, grimacing as he heard something fall to the floor. With another groan that was probably just a bit more dramatic than necessary, he rolled out of bed and went to pick his phone up from the floor.

 _Lance:  
_ _This sucks_

 _Keith:  
_ _Yup_

 _Lance:_  
_OHNO  
_ _DUDE_

 _Keith:  
_ _What??_

 _Lance:_  
_TODAY’S VOLTRON DAY  
_ _This is totally gonna ruin the experience :-(_

 _Keith:  
_ _Well at least I don’t have to listen to you reciting pop songs in my head anymore_

 _Lance:_  
_Keith_  
_Buddy_  
_I have heard your taste in music  
_ _you should be grateful_

 _Keith:  
_ _Lance_

 _Lance:_  
_ok ok_  
_anyways  
_ _Are you doing anything now?_

 _Keith:  
_ _I’m sitting here texting you_

 _Lance:_  
_yes_  
_and I realize you must be having the time of your life right now  
_ _but do you wanna go do something??_

 _Keith:  
_ _Cant. I’ve got a class in 30 minutes_

 _Lance:_  
_aw ok  
_ _See you at Voltron then?_

 _Keith:  
_ _Yeah_

 _Lance:  
_ _Cool :-)_

 

 

 

“Gee, I sure love Voltron and its five red paladins,” Lance mused, leaning his chair back as the giant screen in front of them lit up with robots and laser fire.

Keith snorted. “Really? I’ve always been partial to the blue ones.”

Lance snickered and stuffed his hand in the popcorn bowl. “Hey, look at the bright side. Colorful popcorn.”

Keith grinned and reached down to lower his own chair back, only to recoil as his hand caught on something sticky. He pulled it back to find his fingers stuck in a mess of bright blue bubblegum and he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Oh, no,” Allura whispered from the seat to his left. “Hold on, I’ve got something for that.” She shuffled around in her bag before unwrapping a piece of cloth and taking Keith’s hand in her own, quickly wiping it down.

“Thanks.”

“Not a problem.”

Keith turned back to Lance to find him staring between Keith and Allura, his mouth pulled into a frown and an indiscernible expression on his face.

Keith raised an eyebrow at him. “Everything alright?”

That seemed to break Lance out of his trance, and his gaze turned back to Keith. “Yeah, of course,” he said, but Keith thought he could hear a trace of bitterness in his voice. “Everything’s fine. Just peachy.” Lance shifted in his seat so he was facing the movie screen again, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Okay,” Keith said, drawing out the ‘o’ sound and turning his attention back to the movie. “If you say so.”

They had reached the point in the film where Akira, who was supposed to be the red paladin but in Keith’s case was now more of a slightly-darker-blue paladin, made his return to team Voltron after spending the last couple films on a solo mission.

“About time,” Lance said from beside Keith. “They need to give that guy a break already.”

Keith hummed in agreement.

The next hour and a half was filled with giant robots, space explosions, Lance gasping and yelling “Did you _see_ that!?”, and the occasional whoop from Hunk. Somewhere along the line, Pidge managed to steal their popcorn from the seat behind them, but Keith was pretty sure he was the only one who noticed. He turned back to scowl at her, and she returned his gaze with an innocent smile.

“Oh my god, that was the greatest movie ever,” Lance said as the credits began to roll.

“You say that about every movie,” Hunk pointed out.

“It was okay, I guess,” Keith said, shrugging. He could feel Lance’s gaze on him and it took all the willpower he had not to let his mouth curl into a smirk.

“Okay, that’s it. I need a new soulmate. Hunk, wanna trade?”

“Sorry man, Shay and I are very happy together.”

Keith crossed his arms over his chest in a mock pout.

The lights around the theatre lit up and the group started filing out, but before Keith could follow them, Lance caught his arm, pulling him back.

“Hey, uh…” Lance frowned at the ground, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

“Everything alright?” Keith asked again.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just…” Lance looked up from the ground but still didn’t meet Keith’s gaze, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look… what do you think about Allura?”

“She seems cool.”

“No, no, I mean like… in a _romantic_ way.”

“Oh.” Keith cleared his throat. “She’s, uh, not really my type.”

“What, seriously?” Lance finally met his gaze incredulously. “Well, your type sucks, then.”

Keith stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter, covering his mouth with his hand.

Lance poked his shoulder. “What’s so funny?”

Keith grinned at him. “You know what? You’re right.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? And why am I getting the feeling I’m being made fun of?”

“Look, just…” Keith felt something cold settle in his chest and his smile fell. “Trust me. You don’t have to worry about me getting between you and Allura.”

He turned and walked away without waiting for a response.

 

 

 

The next few days passed without incident, and Lance started to feel hopeful that maybe the side effects of the bond were wearing off. But he also hadn’t seen much of Keith lately either, so maybe that had something to do with it.

He had just pushed open the door to his and Hunk’s room after a long day of classes when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out, mumbling a quick greeting to Hunk, who was currently lying facedown on his bed. Lance couldn’t blame him; the last couple days of classes had been rough on both of them. Hunk responded with a snore and Lance pulled the door closed gently behind him. He set his backpack to the side and sat down on the edge of his bed, turning his attention back to his phone.

 _Keith:  
_ _Meet me on the roof_

 _Lance:  
_ _well that’s ominous_

He frowned at the message, shrugging his half-pulled off jacket back on. He quickly stuffed his phone back into his pocket and headed back for the door, being careful not to let it slam as he left.

It was one of the rare cloudless nights in the city of Arus, and the temperature was starting to rise as winter came to an end, a fact that Lance was immediately grateful for as he stepped out onto the roof of the residential building.

He could see Keith’s form silhouetted against the night sky and the chain link fence that surrounded the roof and walked towards it.

“Heck of a view, huh?” Lance commented. Keith nodded, but his gaze was strangely distant and glassy, and he remained quiet as Lance settled down next to him.

“My dad got me a telescope for my eighth birthday,” Lance said, trying to fill the silence. He leaned back, propping his hands out to support him. “I eventually broke it by accident because, well, I was eight, but I think that’s what made me decide I wanted to go to space.”

Keith perked up at that, finally looking up to meet Lance’s eyes. “You want to go to space?”

Lance nodded. “What about you?”

Keith was quiet again for a moment, and he pulled his knees closer to his chest, his fingers curling around them.

“You don’t have to answer,” Lance added quickly.

Keith shook his head. “’S fine.“ He bit his lip and reached out in front of him, clinging to the chain link fence that separated him from the night sky.

“I wanted to be a pilot like my parents.” Keith’s voice was so faint Lance could barely hear him. “And after… after I lost them, that dream was all I had left. Well, that and Shiro.” Keith sighed, lowering his head and flicking a bit of lint off of his dark jeans. “He kept telling me it wasn’t healthy to obsess over my work and isolate myself like I did, but I wouldn’t listen. And then one day I just… snapped.” He shook his head. “And then I lost everything.”

“I’m sorry,” Lance said quietly.

“I guess I just… lost sight of myself after that. I tried pulling away from Shiro, too, but he wouldn’t let me.” Keith laughed lightly. “I wonder what I did to deserve someone like Shiro. He’s the one that fought with the university board to repeal my expulsion when he saw how badly I was doing. He did so much for me… I just hope I don’t let him down.” Keith rested his chin on the back of his hands, his brow furrowing.

Lance wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t even sure if words would be enough. So instead, he wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulders and pulled him into his side. Keith stiffened for a moment before leaning in closer, resting his head near Lance’s neck. Lance felt a blush creep across his face and he hoped that it was too dark for Keith to notice.

“Things have been better now, though,” Keith continued quietly. “I let Shiro talk me in to going to therapy, and it’s been helping, but…” He sighed. “It’s just… it’s still hard sometimes.”

Lance hummed in sympathy, rubbing Keith’s shoulder. “Well, we’re always here if you need help, you know? Me, and Shiro, and Hunk and Pidge and Allura… we’ll always be here for you.”

Lance thought he felt Keith stiffen for a moment beside him. “Thanks,” Keith said quietly.

For a while, they stayed that way in silence, looking out at the stars.

“Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?” Lance asked gently.

“Oh. No, that’s not…” Keith sighed. “Sorry for dumping all of that on you, I just…”

Lance smiled, ruffling Keith’s hair. “Don’t worry about it, Keithy boy. That’s what friends are for. So… what did you want to talk about?”

Keith lifted his head from Lance’s shoulder and reached into the bag beside him, pulling out a small familiar-looking book.

“You had to drag me up to the roof just to tell me the soul mark book got here?”

Keith shrugged, resting the book on his lap. “Thought we could use a change of scenery. Dunno about you, but if I have to spend another minute sitting at a desk hunched over a book I’m going to explode.”

Lance chuckled. “You got me there. Speaking of which, let’s forget the book for now, alright? I had three classes today, I’m exhausted.”

Lance thought he noticed some of the tension in Keith’s shoulders fall as he replaced the book. “What should we do instead, then?”

“Hmm. Dunno.”

“I brought my phone. We could listen to music,” Keith suggested.

Lance let out a whine, falling flat on his back dramatically. “I knew it. You brought me up here to kill me.”

Keith scowled down at him. “It’s not _that_ bad.”

“You’re right. It’s worse.”

Keith crossed his arms and stuck out his lip in a pout, and okay, Pouty Keith was _kind_ of cute. “Alright, alright,” Lance sighed, pulling himself back up into a sitting position.

Lance wasn’t sure how long they stayed there, looking out at the stars and listening to horribly outdated rock music, but by the end of it he was thoroughly convinced that Keith must secretly be a time-traveler from the seventies. He had the mullet and everything.

“What is it with you and my hair?”

“If _I_ looked like a dork, I’d want someone to tell me.”

“Fine. You look like a dork.”

 

 

 

Keith stared down at the soulmark book he had all too eagerly pushed aside the night before.

A week ago, the book would have been a blessing, but now it felt more like a curse.

Because there was a part of Keith that was still filled with doubt, a part that wondered how much of what happened between him and Lance was real and how much of it was an act.

Because that’s what all of this was, wasn’t it? An act— pretending to be Lance’s soulmate. But now he was starting to worry that he wasn’t the only one pretending. What if the only reason Lance liked and cared about him was because they were forced to be together?

And what would happen once they were free?

Keith shook his head to break himself out of his thoughts and roughly pushed the book aside, instead grabbing his notebook and moving to close his locker.

“Kogane. You’re back.”

Keith turned to glare at the owner of the voice. Lotor met his gaze evenly, a dangerous smile playing on his lips. His four lackeys stood a pace behind him, two of them flanking him on each side.

“And here I thought Altea University had standards, but it looks like they’re just letting anyone in these days. Even delinquents like you.”

Keith snorted. If Lotor was trying to get a rise out of him, he would have to do better than that. Keith had come too far to risk everything over one of Lotor’s pathetic jabs.

“Altea’s star student, lashing out like a child and getting kicked out. It was pathetic, really. I didn’t think you could possibly sink lower.”

One of Lotor’s lackeys snickered. Keith turned away, slamming the locker closed. He had heard enough.

“But then I found out that you’re dating that _loser,_ McClain,” Lotor spat. Keith’s pace faltered. “You really don't have any standards at all, do you?”

Keith didn’t remember moving, but the next moment, his fist was raised and Lotor was sprawled on the ground.

Lotor lifted himself slowly, his gold eyes glittering with venom. He brushed away the blood that trickled from his lips and smiled, baring his teeth.

“You’re going to wish you hadn’t done that, Kogane.”

Keith tried to lunge forward, but someone caught his arm and held him back.

“Keith, he’s not worth it,” the person beside Keith said gently.

The tallest of Lotor’s lackeys started forward with a growl, but Lotor put out his hand to stop her.

“Now, now, Zethrid. There’s no need to stoop to his level.” He locked eyes with Keith one last time, his gaze cool and dangerous.

“Kogane!” A furious voice snarled from behind them. Keith looked over his shoulder to see Professor Iverson marching towards him, his face beet red.

He had been set up, Keith realized helplessly.

“Follow me. _Now,”_ Iverson barked.

Fury and adrenaline were still pounding through Keith’s veins, and he couldn’t decide whether he should try to run away or fight his way through this.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” a voice said beside him. He looked up at Allura, who currently had a death grip on his right arm.

“Pretty sure I just did,” Keith pointed out.

Allura pursed her lips. “Yes, well, there’s no reason to make it worse.”

Keith sighed and followed after Iverson, pushing his way through the crowd of people that had gathered around the scene and were now whispering excitedly. Allura fell in pace beside him, and though Keith wasn’t exactly sure why she bothered, he was admittedly grateful for the company.

By the time they reached Iverson’s office, the adrenaline in Keith’s veins was dulling and slowly being replaced with shame.

Shiro had worked so hard to give him this chance, and he had screwed it up.

 _Shiro._ How was he going to tell him?

Allura gave Keith’s shoulder a comforting pat and pulled back as Iverson swung the door to his office open. Keith took a deep breath and followed him inside.

 

 

 

“Oh, man, we’re so late,” Lance muttered, trying to balance the stack of books in his arms as he jogged across the courtyard.

“I told you not setting an alarm was a bad idea,” Hunk said from beside him.

“I didn’t think we’d be out for four hours! It was supposed to be a quick powernap. Emphasis on _quick.”_

“I haven’t slept more than five hours a night for a week, and you were up all night with your boyfriend. What did you think was going to happen?”

“He’s not—” Lance’s words cut off as his vision blurred. He breathed in sharply as he felt a rush of fury that he knew didn’t belong to him and he stumbled forward, his books tumbling from his hands.

“Are you okay, man?” Hunk asked, gripping Lance’s shoulders, his brow furrowing with worry.

“Yeah, yeah, I— I’m fine.”

Hunk frowned, looking unconvinced. “Are you sure? Do you need to go to a nurse or something? We could—”

“Really, it’s— I’m fine,” Lance assured him, rubbing his forehead and bending down to gather his books from the ground. “It’s probably just another weird side effect of the bond. Come on, we’ve gotta get moving.”

 

 

 

For the second time in his life, Keith was in danger of being expelled from Altea University.

It was raining as he walked out into the courtyard, and he could see Allura standing beneath a tree a short distance away, rainwater dripping from the light blue umbrella she held over her head. She looked up as he approached, holding the umbrella out so it covered both of them.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” Keith said.

She shook her head and frowned at him, pursing her lips. “This isn’t over, you know,” she said quietly. “You can still explain what happened at the hearing. My father, Alfor, is a counselor on the board, and he’s been getting complaints about Lotor for ages.” She looked away, scowling into the distance. “Honestly, if Lotor’s parents hadn’t stepped in, he’d probably have been expelled a dozen times over.”

Keith nodded absently.

“Keith. No matter what happens, just remember… we’re here for you, okay?”

“Thanks,” Keith said quietly. “But I think… right now, I’d rather be alone.”

Allura studied him for a moment and gave him a curt nod, reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. “Good luck, Keith.”

 

 

 

The bus pulled to a stop and Lance held his jacket over his head as a makeshift umbrella to shield himself from the pouring rain as he stepped out. The walk from the bus stop to the pizzeria was thankfully short, but even then Lance managed to get drenched.

As he entered, he could see Pidge and Hunk sitting at their usual table, Pidge hunched excitedly over her phone and Hunk in the window seat next to her. It would just be the three of them this time, as Allura had said that something urgent came up and Keith hadn’t responded, so Lance figured he must be busy with something.

Pidge looked up at Lance as he got closer, her eyes wide.

“Dude,” she said, her voice awestruck, “your boyfriend is my _hero.”_

“He’s not my— wait, what?”

Pidge scooted over in the booth, hurriedly gesturing for Lance to sit beside her and holding up the phone between the three of them. Lance leaned forward to get a better look at the tiny screen.

The video onscreen showed one of the hallways at Altea University, with a small crowd gathering around in the middle of it. It was hard to see what was going on at first because of the people standing in the way and the shakiness of the camera, but eventually the camera holder managed to weave their way to the front to get a good shot of the spectacle.

Keith was standing a pace away from Lotor and his lackeys, pointedly looking away. Lotor was saying something Lance couldn’t make out, but from the smug expression on his face Lance doubted it was good. He absently felt his teeth clench and his hands ball into fists. Keith looked like he was about to walk away when Lotor said something else, and in an instant Keith whirled around and decked him in the face, knocking him backward.

“Oh my god,” Lance whispered, unable to keep the bubble of laughter out of his voice. “Keith sent him _flying.”_

Pidge snickered. “It’s about time someone took that greasy-haired buffoon down a peg.”

The video continued with a slow-motion replay of Keith’s fist connecting with Lotor’s face.

“Send me that video,” Lance said. “Oh, and play it at my funeral. This is without a doubt the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Pidge nodded solemnly.

The trio continued with their usual banter after that, talking about classes, Pidge and Hunk’s latest project, and the new Voltron movie, only pausing when Shay came by to take their order. And for a while, everything was normal.

Hunk was halfway through his analysis of the second half of the film when the world around Lance grew blurry and he was barraged with distant emotions he knew weren’t his— guilt, sadness, and disappointment.

Lance shook his head in confusion and his phone lit up in front of him.

 _Keith:_  
_Sorry for the late reply  
_ _I won’t be able to make it to lunch today_

 _Lance:  
_ _That’s fine! everything ok?_

 _Keith:  
_ _Fine. Why?_

Lance bit his lip hesitantly before typing out a response.

 _Lance:  
_ _no reason, just wanted make sure_

“Lance. Laaaaance.”

“Muh?” Lance looked up from his phone and Pidge raised an eyebrow at him.

“You okay?”

“Um, yeah, I think so. Why?”

“You were kinda looking like a kicked puppy over there, dude,” Hunk said.

“Yeah. It’s… nothing.” _I hope,_ he added subconsciously.

 

 

 

Night had fallen by the time Keith arrived back at Shiro’s apartment. He had called beforehand and asked to stay, briefly explaining what happened, but had quickly hung up before he could hear Shiro’s reaction.

Shiro glanced up from the couch as Keith pushed the front door open. Keith mumbled a quick greeting but kept his eyes lowered and made his way to the guest room without another word.

He tossed his backpack unceremoniously in a heap near the door and fell back on the bed in the center of the room, watching the blades of the ceiling fan slowly spin in a circle.

“Keith?” Shiro asked quietly, knocking on the door. Keith remained silent, and after a moment he heard Shiro sigh from the other side of the door. “I’ll leave you alone for now, but you have to talk to me eventually.”

Keith rolled onto his side so that his back was facing the door. What was he supposed to tell him? That he had screwed up his one chance to make things right just because he couldn’t control his temper?

A soft buzzing sound dragged him out of his thoughts and he let out a quiet growl of annoyance. He rolled over and pulled himself off of the bed, rummaging around in his bag until he found his phone. He tapped at the screen without bothering to read the name, intending to hang up and be done with it, but his aim was off and he ended up answering it instead.

“Keith?”

Keith froze as Lance’s voice sounded from the phone, his thumb less than an inch away from the “end call” button.

The line was silent for a moment as Keith failed to respond, and Lance cleared his throat. “Look, I uh… I don’t mean to pry or anything, but I think I’ve been like… kinda sorta picking up on your emotions? You know, through the weird bond-thingy or whatever.

“And like… I know this isn’t any of my business and it’s totally fine if you don’t want to answer, but… I’ve been getting seriously bad vibes from you all day, and I just wanted you to know that I’m here if you want to talk about anything.” Lance was quiet for a moment and took a deep breath. “And… yeah, that’s all I wanted to say, and you’re still not responding, so I’ll uh. I’ll just. Go.”

“Wait.” Keith’s voice was raw and scratchy, and he hated the sound of it. He held his breath and pulled the phone away from his ear, leaning his back against the side of his bed and looking up at the ceiling.

He was quiet for so long he figured Lance must have definitely hung up, so he decided he had nothing to lose. “I got kicked out again.” He let go of the breath he had been holding and folded in on himself, resting his forehead against his knees. “Well, I mean, not officially yet, I still have the hearing and everything but… it’s almost guaranteed.”

“Oh, man… I’m so sorry.”

Keith jumped as he realized Lance was still on the line. He felt panic creep up on him and considered hanging up then and there, but something stopped him.

“I thought… I thought this time would be different. Shiro believed in me, and I let him down, and now—” Keith’s voice was shaking, and he really just needed to hang up before he made this worse—

“Woah, woah, slow down,” Lance cut in. “This time _was_ different, wasn’t it? I mean, last time, you wouldn’t even talk to me, or… barely anyone else, it seemed like. But this time, you _tried._ You’ve been opening up to people, going to therapy… and one bad move doesn’t mean it was all for nothing. You didn’t let anyone down, buddy, and I’ll fight anyone that says otherwise.”

Keith smiled faintly and let out a shaky breath. “Thanks,” he said quietly.

“Have you talked to your brother about this?”

Keith shook his head. “No,” he said aloud when he realized Lance couldn’t see him.

“Maybe you should. I’m sure it won’t be as bad as you think, he seems like a good guy.”

“Yeah. He is.”

Lance was quiet for a moment. “So… was it because of what happened between you and Lotor?”

“How do you know about that?”

“Pidge,” Lance said simply, as though that explained everything.

“Yeah. It was.”

“Man, they should be giving you a _medal_ for standing up to that guy. I don’t know who he thinks he is,” Lance grumbled.

Keith felt his lips pull into a small smirk. “He did kind of have it coming.”

Lance snorted. “Yeah, I’ll bet!” he said, raising his voice. “I— ah, sorry, I’m sorry!”

“Lance?”

The line was quiet for a moment. “I uh. I may have accidentally woken Hunk up, and well… you know the phrase, ‘if looks could kill’?”

Keith huffed out a laugh, and Lance’s voice grew fainter, as though he was holding the phone away from him.

“Sorry, man, Keith’s going through a rough patch right now and I was trying to comfort him. I may have gotten a bit carried away?”

Keith could hear another voice respond, but it was too muffled for him to make out what it was saying.

“Alright, Hunk has agreed to spare me his wrath,” Lance said, back on the line. “But I should probably get going now. You’ll be okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Lance.”

“Just remember I’m here if you need to talk or anything, alright? Oh, and Hunk says he hopes you feel better soon too. Goodnight, Keith.”

“’Night.”

The line went dead and Keith stared at the screen for a moment longer before tossing the phone on his bed and heading for the door.

Shiro looked up as Keith entered, turning down the volume of the TV.

“Can I join?” Keith asked quietly.

“Of course,” Shiro said, scooting over on the couch to make room for him.

Keith sat down, resting his elbows on his knees and lacing his hands in front of him, looking up at the TV.

“Keith—”

“I’m sorry,” Keith interrupted. “I know I screwed up, I had one chance and I blew it just because—”

“Keith, this was never about the school.”

Keith glanced up at him, his words dying in his throat.

“I just wanted you to care about something again. I felt like you were lost, and I thought that maybe going back would help you find your way.” Shiro sighed, leaning back on the couch. “All I want is for you to find something that makes you happy. And maybe school has nothing to do with that. It doesn’t have to. There’s more than one way to get where you want to be. Just… promise me you won’t stop trying.”

Keith bowed his head. “But what if I screw up again?”

Shiro reached out, patting his shoulder. “You will. Everyone does. But that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’d like to think that we can just snap our fingers and everything from then on will be different, and while that’s a nice thought, that’s rarely the way things work out. But what matters is that you’re trying.”

Keith smiled weakly. “Thanks, Shiro.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shiro said, stretching his arm over his head with a yawn. “I think I’m gonna head off to bed now. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, just try not to set anything on fire, alright?”

“No promises. ‘Night.”

“Goodnight, Keith.”

 

 

 

 _Lance:_  
_Hey man_  
_I know you must be busy so you don't have to answer right away  
_ _but it’s been a while since I’ve heard from you and I just wanted to make sure you’re doing ok??_

Lance sighed, setting his phone back on the table of the dining center and propping his head on his hands, suddenly feeling like he had lost his appetite.

Pidge and Hunk were currently in an engineering class, which left Lance alone with his thoughts, and they quickly got away from him.

It had been a week since he had last heard from Keith after the Lotor incident, and okay, he was a bit worried. So sue him. He dipped his head, running his fingers through his hair.

“This seat taken?” a familiar voice asked.

Lance’s head snapped up so quickly he was fairly certain he gave himself whiplash, but he decided it was worth it when he saw Keith standing on the other side of the table with a small, self-satisfied smile on his face.

Lance gaped at him for a moment before he realized Keith was probably still waiting for him to say something.

“You’re back.”

Keith nodded, pulling out the seat across from Lance. “I’m back.”

“Wait, so are you like… back for good?”

Keith’s small smile pulled into a full-on grin. “Yeah. I won the hearing.” He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “So, what did I miss?”

Lance matched his grin. “Oh, you know, the usual. Classes are murder, Pidge built a sentient robot that went rogue and decided to try to destroy humanity— I’m just kidding,” Lance added quickly at Keith’s horrified expression. “Well, about the robot part. My classes really are trying to kill me. Oh, and uh…” Lance hesitated a moment, clearing his throat. “Well, I was going to ask you earlier, but then the whole Lotor thing happened and I didn’t want to overwhelm you, but… Allura’s cousin is getting married this weekend, and she invited us to the wedding.”

Keith’s brow furrowed. “Really? But… I don’t know her. Are you sure she wants me there?”

“Well, yeah, the thing about that is, she kind of heard from Allura that you’re my soulmate? So… we’d be going as soulmates. Which I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s totally okay, I just thought I’d ask because Allura’s super excited about it and… yeah.”

“Oh.” Keith looked away. “I, I mean, yeah. That’s— that’s fine.”

“You sure?”

Keith nodded.

“Okay. Cool. I’ll uh, I’ll text you the details and everything then.” Lance looked up, grinning. “Wanna see the video of you decking Lotor?”

Keith’s eyes widened. “There’s a video?”

Lance nodded excitedly, pulling it up on his phone and moving to sit beside Keith.

 

 

 

Keith stared at himself in the mirror, fidgeting with the collar of his suit, running his fingers through his hair for what must have been the millionth time, and unfolding and re-folding his sleeves in nervous apprehension. A knock on the door nearly made him jump out of his skin, and he pulled it open, scowling.

“So, what time is your date getting here?” Shiro asked casually, looking far too amused for his own good.

“He’s not my date!” Keith squeaked before clamping a hand over his mouth in horror. He didn’t realize his voice could _go_ that high.

Shiro’s eyes gleamed mischievously and he looked like he was going to say something else, but the sound of the doorbell interrupted him. Keith let out a yell and slammed the door closed.

“I think that’s him. What should I say?”

“Tell him I’m dead,” Keith groaned, leaning against the bathroom door and letting himself slide to the floor. He heard Shiro sigh in exasperation.

“I’ll go stall him for a couple minutes, but if you take too long I’m telling him the Yosemite Park story.”

_“Don't you dare!”_

Shiro chuckled and Keith could hear his footsteps retreating. He picked himself off of the ground slowly and took a moment to compose himself before stepping out.

Lance was leaning against the doorframe of the front door, dressed in a navy blue suit with his dark brown hair slicked back and a lopsided grin on his face as he talked to Shiro. His grin widened as he caught sight of Keith.

“Keithy boy, you made it!”

Keith cleared his throat. “You uh, you look good.”

Lance’s eyes widened and his face flushed red. “You… you do too.”

“Thanks,” Keith mumbled, looking down, becoming suddenly fascinated by the apartment’s carpeting.

“Oh, right! I brought this for you,” Lance said, and Keith looked up to see a piece of red clothing being held out to him. “Sorry it took so long, I kept meaning to give it back to you but I’d forget at the last minute.”

Keith took the piece of clothing, carefully unfolding it and— oh. So that’s where his jacket went.

“And uh…” Lance hesitated, his voice suddenly sounding uncertain. “These are also for you.”

Keith looked up from the jacket just in time to see a bouquet of bright red roses being thrust at him.

“I wasn’t sure if you liked roses, or like, flowers in general, but they were red and you wear red all the time so uh. Yeah.”

Keith was fairly certain his face was now the same color as the arrangement in front of him. “Thanks,” he managed to say again after a moment, carefully taking the bouquet. “They’re— they’re great. I’ll uh. I’ll go put these away.”

He turned away and made a dash for the guest room. As soon as the door was closed behind him, he leaned back against it, giving himself a moment to recover. His gaze fell to the flowers in his hands, and he brushed his fingers over the petals gently, feeling a strange warmth bloom in his chest. He jumped as he felt his phone go off in his pocket.

 _Shiro:_  
_OH MYGOD_  
_YOU LENT HIM YOUR JACKET_  
_AND HE GOT YOU FLOWESR_  
_*FLOWERS  
_ _:’))))_

 _Keith:  
_ _SHUT UP AND LET ME DIE IN PEACE_

Keith shoved his phone back into his pocket, carefully placing the bouquet and his jacket on the bedside table before heading back out.

“Ready to go?” Lance asked as Keith made it to the front door. Keith gave a quick nod and they started out after saying goodbye to Shiro.

Keith nudged Lance’s arm as they made their way down the stairs towards the parking lot. “Flowers?” he asked quietly, raising an eyebrow.

“Allura’s idea,” Lance said, shrugging, but Keith thought he noticed the tips of his ears flushing red.

Lance led them to a bright yellow land rover parked near the curb in front of the building. Keith could hear muffled music coming from it, and as they got closer, one of the doors swung open and Pidge leaned out.

“About time,” she called in mock annoyance. “We were beginning to think you two eloped together and ditched us.”

“Certainly tempting,” Lance said, propping his elbow on Keith’s shoulder. If Keith hadn’t been blushing before, he certainly was now.

“Sorry,” Keith mumbled. “Lost track of time.”

“It’s cool. I was just kidding anyways,” Pidge said with a toothy grin. “Now get in, we’ve got places to be.”

Keith and Lance settled in the back seat next to Pidge, with Hunk and Allura in the driver and passenger seats respectively.

“So, Keith, did you like the flowers?” Allura asked, turning around in her seat to face him.

Keith nodded. “Yeah. They’re uh, they’re nice.”

She smiled, turning her attention to Lance. “See, Lance? I told you you had nothing to worry abou—”

“Ooookay, wow, would you look at the time?” Lance interrupted hurriedly, glancing at an invisible watch on his wrist. “You know what, I think we’re running late, so we should probably, you know, head out.”

Keith frowned, sending Lance a questioning look as the car started forward, which Lance pointedly ignored.

Both of them were quiet after that, and Keith leaned against the window, watching the city speed past them. His phone lit up on his lap, drawing his attention back inside the car.

 _Shiro:_  
_Lance seems like a good guy  
_ _I approve_

Keith groaned quietly, which prompted Lance to look back at him, then at the phone. Keith quickly shut it off and stuffed it in his pocket, hoping Lance didn’t notice the deep flush that now undoubtedly covered his face.

 

 

 

It was late afternoon when they finally arrived at the aquarium the wedding was to take place in. A woman who introduced herself as Luxia greeted them at the door and led them to the wedding floor.

“Man, I want an aquarium wedding,” Lance commented as they made their way past dozens of bright blue tanks filled with various sea life. “Well, obviously my first choice would be Varadero because I mean, nothing can beat that, but still.”

“Why not both?” Hunk suggested. “Get married on the beach and go to the aquarium afterward.”

Lance beamed at him, tossing his arm over Hunk’s shoulder. “Hunk, buddy, this is why you’re my best friend.”

The wedding ceremony passed in a bit of a blur. Allura’s cousin, Plaxum, looked a few inches taller than Lance remembered, and he recognized her fiancé, Florona, from the pictures Allura had shown him. They were definitely a cute couple, he decided as Florona jumped up to kiss Plaxum with so much enthusiasm that both of them nearly tumbled over.

A few greetings and introductions later, Lance found himself sitting at a table for the reception, the lights dimmed and soft music playing as people spun in slow circles on the dance floor. In the center of it all were Plaxum and Florona, their gowns spinning together in a swirl of turquoise and light pink in a scene that looked like something out of a fairy tale.

Allura had gone off to greet more of the other guests and Hunk had left shortly after to find Shay, which left him, Pidge, and Keith at the table. Pidge was currently on her fourth slice of cake, despite Lance’s warnings about getting a sugar rush.

“Lance,” she had said, pointing her fork at him, “I am a starving college student who’s been offered free food. You better believe I’m gonna take advantage of this.”

Lance leaned forward, propping his head on his hands. Their table was illuminated by a large floor-to-ceiling tank that glowed with a faint blue light, casting lines of wave ripples over the surface of the table.

“Why don’t you go up there?” Pidge asked him, nodding at the dance floor. “Seems like your type of thing.”

“Why don’t _you_ go up there?” Lance countered.

“I told you. Free food. Also, if I stand up and start twirling around, I might be sick.”

Lance quirked an eyebrow at her in an I-told-you-so look.

“…Shut up.” Pidge shoved his arm. “You still haven’t answered my question,” she pointed out.

She followed his gaze to Keith, who was sitting sideways in his chair a few seats away, his elbows resting on his knees and his leg bouncing restlessly while ripples of blue light caught on his inky black hair.

She grinned. “Ohhh, I see.”

Lance turned back to scowl at her and she nudged his arm again, mouthing “ask him.”

Lance turned away, crossing his arms over his chest. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure why he was being so stubborn, but the thought of asking Keith to dance with him made his mouth go dry and his heart pound.

Pidge sighed. “You two are hopeless, you know that? Hey, Keith,” she called, raising her voice to Lance’s horror, “you should ask Lance to dance with you.”

Keith looked back at Pidge, his eyes widening, before he quickly cleared his throat and looked away. “I uh, I don’t dance.”

Lance hated the small pang of disappointment that followed his relief.

“I mean…” Keith looked back again, his eyes catching on Lance’s, and Lance was fairly certain he must be about the same shade as a tomato. “I don’t… I don’t know how. Sorry.”

“Lance can teach you,” Pidge offered cheerily.

Keith’s face seemed to darken a few shades too, and he glanced back at Lance, his eyes questioning.

“Riiiight, Lance?” Pidge asked, tugging his arm. Then, quieter, “Come on, loverboy, this is your chance.”

Lance was fairly certain his brain had short-circuited.

“Uh,” he finally managed to say.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Keith said quickly.

“What are you three still sitting around for?” Allura’s voice chimed in teasingly as she made her way back to the table.

“Cake,” Pidge replied.

“I, uh, I don’t know how to dance,” Keith said awkwardly. Lance was still trying to remember how words worked.

Allura clasped her hands together, her face lighting up. “I could teach you.”

“Wha—“ Keith started but Allura was already grabbing his hands, pulling him towards the dance floor.

Lance watched them go, feeling disappointment settle in his stomach.

Pidge groaned, slapping her palm against her forehead. “You had _one job.”_

Lance huffed, folding his arms on the table and resting his chin on top of them.

“What’s with you? You’re totally off your game.”

“I— I don’t know! I just… I really don’t want to screw this up.” Lance sighed, burying his face in his arms. He felt Pidge pat his shoulder sympathetically.

“Just be yourself. Stop worrying so much. You’re a good guy, anyone would be lucky to be with you.”

Lance glanced up at her incredulously. She shrugged, grinning.

“Just an observation. I’m gonna go get something to drink, you want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good. But… thank you.”

Pidge snorted. “I was just offering to get you a drink, no need to get all sappy on me,” she said, standing up. “Good luck, loverboy.”

Lance turned his attention back to the dance floor, his eyes immediately catching on Keith and Allura. Allura was spinning Keith around wildly, and Keith caught Lance’s eye, sending him a panicked look.

Lance chuckled and sent him a thumbs up. “You’re doing great, babe!” he called.

Keith’s face flushed red and he ducked his head. Lance laughed again.

“Lance!”

Lance turned to see Shay striding towards him, dressed in a bright orange gown with large gold bangled earrings.

“Shay, how are you?”

She beamed at him. “Wonderful! It is so good to see you.” Her eyes lit up in excitement. “I heard from Allura that you found your soulmate?”

“Oh,” Lance hesitated. “Right. That. Well, it’s—it’s a bit complicated.”

Shay’s face fell. “Oh. I am sorry. I hope the two of you will work things out.”

“Oh, it’s not like that, it’s…” Lance frowned, fidgeting with the seams of his suit.

“Shay!” Allura called, rushing towards her friend. Lance let out a small sigh of relief as the conversation was broken. “You look gorgeous!”

Shay beamed. “As do you,” she said, embracing Allura in a hug.

“Lance.”

Lance looked up to see Keith striding towards him, his face pulled into a determined scowl.

“Uh, hey, buddy, everything—” Lance’s train of thought was cut off as Keith offered him his hand, quirking an eyebrow.

“Dance with me?”

Lance took Keith’s hand, letting Keith pull him towards the dance floor. When they got to the center of the room, Keith turned around, lacing their joined hands together and placing his other hand on Lance’s shoulder. His brow furrowed as he looked up at Lance.

“Am I doing this right?”

Lance nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Lance wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. He was vaguely aware of the dance floor thinning out around them as more and more guests left, but he couldn’t find it in him to care.

But then Keith paused, pulling his hands away, bringing Lance back to the present.

“Lance,” Keith said, taking a shaky breath, “there’s something I have to tell you.”

Keith took a step back, looking away, his face illuminated by the soft blue lights that surrounded them. Then his brow pinched in determination and he looked up, meeting Lance’s eyes.

“I—”

Whatever Keith was about to say was cut off as everything went dark.

Lance could hear a few murmurs of shock erupt around them, and then one by one several fluorescent white ceiling lights clicked on with a dull hum. The tanks around them remained dark, and the ceiling lights provided a stiff, industrial-feeling glow.

Lance finally took the time to look around, realizing that he and Keith were the only ones left on the floor. Across the room, he could see Hunk, Pidge, Shay, and Allura sitting back at their table, with Florona and Plaxum at the table next to them.

“Sorry, looks like our time’s up,” Plaxum sighed, balancing a slice of cake on her lap. “We were trying to give you all the time we could, but I’m guessing this is the aquarium’s way of politely telling us to get lost.”

Lance felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “Sorry, I—”

“Hey, hey, don’t worry about it. We all had a good time, and that’s what matters,” Plaxum said with a grin. “We really should get going now, though.”

Lance glanced back at Keith, who was standing a couple feet away with his arms folded over his chest, avoiding Lance’s gaze.

“Hey, uh…”

“We should get going,” Keith interrupted, turning back and walking towards the entrance.

“Hey, wait!” Lance called after him, jogging to catch up. “What was it you wanted to tell me?”

Keith shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll— I’ll tell you later.”

 

 

 

“You sure you don’t need any more help?” Lance asked.

Keith tapped his foot on the ground impatiently, still feeling nervous energy coursing through him.

The group had made it back to the entrance of the aquarium, and Shay and Allura had decided to stay behind to help Plaxum and Florona with the cleanup.

“I think we’ll manage,” Allura said, smiling.

“See you around then, beautiful,” Lance said with a wink. “Don’t miss me too much, alright?”

Allura rolled her eyes, shoving his shoulder lightly. Lance turned back to the rest of the group and Keith avoided his gaze, feeling the nervous energy inside of him transform into something bitter.

Keith was dimly aware of someone else saying something, but their words turned to gibberish in his mind. He pulled away from the group and started outside without waiting for the others.

The cold wind battered against him as he entered the nearly vacant, dimly lit parking lot. He shoved his hands into his pockets and ducked his head, picking up his pace as he heard the door behind him open.

It was an act, he reminded himself. Everything between him and Lance— it was an act. It had always been an act.

He couldn’t believe he let himself think for a moment that it was real.

His eyes started to sting and he scrubbed at them angrily. He had come so close to making a complete fool of himself.

“Keith!” Lance called from behind him. “Keith, babe, wait up!”

“Stop calling me that!” Keith snapped before he could stop himself, whirling around to face Lance. “Allura isn’t here, you don’t have to _pretend_ anymore!”

Keith turned away from Lance’s stunned expression and continued marching before Lance could react.

“Keith?” Lance called from behind him, his voice softer. “Keith, stop! Please?”

Keith let out a sigh and paused. He could hear Lance’s footsteps grow louder as he approached, and Keith turned to face him.

“I’m sorry,” Lance said quietly. “I didn’t… I didn’t realize I was making you uncomfortable.” His brow was pinched together in concern, his soft brown hair illuminated by the street lamps in the parking lot, and a look of determination crossed his face. “Don’t worry, I’ll set things right. I’ll come clean to Allura about what happened so you don’t have to worry about it anymore, okay?”

Keith nodded, still feeling as though he had shards of glass lodged in his chest.

“We’re okay, then?” Lance asked, taking a tentative step forward.

Keith nodded again. “I’m… I’m sorry too. I should have said something sooner.”

Lance tilted his head, realization crossing his expression. “Is that what you wanted to tell me earlier?”

Keith looked away, clenching his fists in his pockets as his vision blurred.

“Yeah,” he lied. “Yeah, that’s it.”

 

 

 

Lance flicked through his phone absently, trying to find something to distract himself. He was back at his dorm, sitting on the edge of his bed, still wearing the suit he had worn to the wedding.

He sighed, tossing his phone beside him in defeat. Nothing he tried had managed to push away the crushing weight he felt in his chest.

Everything was fine, he assured himself. Great, even.

He glanced up as the door to his dorm swung open and Hunk walked in, his hair still wet from the shower and clinging to his dark skin. He frowned when he saw Lance.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Lance forced a smile. “What? Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Dude… you’re crying.”

Lance brushed his sleeve over his eyes. It was damp when he pulled it away. “Ah,” he said quietly.

Hunk sighed, moving Lance’s phone so he could sit on the bed next to him. “Is it Keith?”

Lance glanced up sharply. Hunk bumped Lance’s shoulder with his own.

“Dude, I’m your best friend.”

Lance sighed, pulling his legs onto the bed and hugging them to his chest. “I don’t… I don’t know what’s going on with me. I didn’t even think that I _liked_ guys, but then _he_ shows up with that… that stupid mullet and that stupid face and that stupid… stupidness…”

“Wow, you really like this guy, huh?”

Lance let out a choked laugh but quickly sobered, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t feel the same.”

“I’m sorry, man,” Hunk said, rubbing his back soothingly.

 

 

 

By the time Keith made it back to the university Sunday night, he had come to a decision.

He had to get this thing off of his arm.

He slumped down in his seat with the soulmark book spread out open on his desk, flipping through the pages until he had nearly reached the end.

_“Removing Soul Bonds”._

Beneath the heading was a single line of text. An address.

Keith leaned back in his seat, letting out a growl of frustration. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He stood up, pacing the length of the room and desperately rubbing at the mark on his arm with his palm, as though that would be enough to remove it. But the bright blue mark remained as vibrant as ever. It hurt to look at.

Keith sighed, pulled out his phone, and typed in the address.

Apparently, the address belonged to a small shop called Galran Antiques that was situated roughly in the middle of nowhere, about two hours from the university. Keith briefly considered waiting until tomorrow to check it out, but he knew he would be too high strung to be able to sleep anyways. He grabbed his jacket and the soulmark book from his desk before heading out.

His phone had assured him the shop was open 24/7, but as he pulled up in front of the shop’s dark windows he started to feel doubtful. He walked up to the entrance and tentatively pushed on the door, and to his surprise it swung open before him.

The shop was lit only by several small lanterns that dotted the edges of the room. It was filled with rows of glass shelves covered in dusty antiques, mostly old books and dusty pottery. Keith hesitated, wondering if this place would really be able to help him. But he figured since he had come all this way he may as well ask, and stepped up to the empty counter near the back of the shop.

“Hello?” he called, leaning over the counter to try and catch a glimpse of movement from the room behind it. Seeing nothing, he let out a sigh, resting his arm on the counter and drumming his fingers idly. He looked back up at the sound of shuffling in time to see an old woman with long white hair and a hood obscuring most of her face step up to the counter.

“What is it?” she asked, her voice thin and raspy.

“Uh.” Keith took a moment to gather his bearings and pulled the soulmark book from the bag slung over his shoulder. “The address in this book brought me here.” He internally winced at his explanation, but the old woman merely nodded in acknowledgement.

“You want to remove a soul bond.”

“Is that possible?”

“For me? Yes.” She held her hands over the counter, folding her fingers in a gesturing motion. “Give me your arm and your soul band.”

Keith took his band from his pocket, carefully unfolded the cloth covering it before extending his marked arm towards her, the ring in his palm. “How much will this cost?” he asked.

“The book.”

“...I’m sorry?”

“I will remove the mark in exchange for the book.”

Keith hesitated before he set the soulmark book on the desk and pushed it towards her.

She gave a curt nod. “Now close your eyes.”

Keith felt a prickle of unease but did as he was told. He felt the old woman grab his arm, her long fingernails scratching against it, and he shivered. Her grip released and Keith opened his eyes to find himself standing in the center of a circle of bright violet fire that swept around him. As he watched, the fire untwisted itself, separating into lines of blue and red before fading back into nothing.

“It is done,” the woman said.

 

 

 

“Sleep well, Sunshine?” Lance asked with a teasing smirk as Keith took the desk next to him.

Keith grunted in response, folding his arms on the desk and propping his chin on them. He had barely gotten more than three hours of sleep, and he had no doubt he looked like hell. He rubbed the palms of his hands over his eyes, trying to wake himself up.

“Late night studying?” Lance asked sympathetically.

Keith hesitated. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Now, as you all know,” Professor Coran was saying, “tomorrow you will be presenting your projects, which I know you have all been working _very_ hard on.”

Keith exchanged a horrified look with Lance. It wasn’t as if they had _forgotten_ about the project between everything that happened, but… okay, maybe they had forgotten about it a little bit.

“We’re doomed,” Lance whispered, echoing Keith’s thoughts.

“We’ve still got tonight,” Keith pointed out.

“For an entire _project?”_

Keith shrugged. “We’ll wing it.”

 

 

The rest of the day seemed to pass by too slowly, and Keith found himself constantly glancing at the time. Lance was supposed to get out of his last class at around five and meet back at Keith’s dorm, which left Keith on edge for multiple reasons.

Keith sighed, pacing the length of the room in apprehension until a loud knock sounded on the door, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Hey,” Lance greeted him as Keith pulled the door open. “Sorry I’m late, but I thought I should grab us sandwiches before the dining center closed,” he said, lifting up the plastic bag he was carrying.

“Good thinking. All I’ve got here is some stale licorice,” Keith said. Lance wrinkled his nose.

Keith sat down at his desk in front of his laptop while Lance sprawled out on Keith’s bed with a textbook in front of him.

“Hey, uh…” Lance looked away, tapping his fingers on the side of the textbook.

“Everything okay?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to let you know… I came clean to Allura. So… you don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Oh. How did it go?”

Lance shrugged. “It was… good, I guess. She was really understanding about the whole thing.”

“No, I mean… between you two.”

“Oh, that.” Lance sighed, rolling over onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. “Yeah… she was super nice about it, but… she doesn’t feel the same.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith said quietly.

Lance shrugged. “’S okay. Guess I should be used to this by now, huh?” He let out a humorless laugh.

Keith frowned. “Don’t say that. I’m sure you’ll find someone who feels the same. You’re… you’re funny, and energetic, and smart, and kind, and you’re so… so passionate about everything, and…”

Lance rolled back onto his stomach, staring at Keith so long Keith started to worry he had said something wrong. Lance seemed to notice his change in expression and cleared his throat, looking away.

“I… thanks, Keith. That really means a lot, coming from you.” Then his eyes widened and his face flushed red. “I—I mean, you know, because you’re so cool and—” He groaned, lying his face down on the bed and covering his head with Keith’s pillow. “Forget I said any of that.”

Keith frowned, reaching over and tugging on the pillow. “Everything okay?” he asked again.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance sighed, finally removing the pillow and looking up, his dark brown hair ruffled in a way that Keith found strangely endearing. “Everything’s just peachy.” He sat up, hugging the pillow to his chest.

“You know, uh, you can talk to me. If you want, I mean,” Keith said awkwardly.

“It’s just…” Lance looked up at Keith, holding his gaze for a few moments before looking away. “I think I’m in love with someone else.”

Keith stiffened, then forced a laugh. “Already?”

Lance waved him off. “What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic.”

“You’re certainly hopeless, I’ll give you that.”

“Hey!” Lance objected, throwing the pillow at Keith.

They were quiet for a moment before Lance spoke again, his voice surprisingly quiet.

“So… what about you?”

Keith leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m, uh… I’m still trying to get over someone.”

“Ah,” Lance said softly. “That’s rough, buddy.”

“Yeah.”

 

 

 

Keith woke up to the sound of his alarm. He lifted his head from his desk and blinked at the small bright red logo bouncing around on his computer screen a few inches away. He cursed under his breath, tapping at the alarm on the phone until it stopped and glancing at the time displayed on the screen. He cursed again.

“Language,” a sleepy voice mumbled, and Keith glanced over to see Lance still sprawled out on his bed, his face smushed into the textbook he had been reading. Lance sat up slowly, grimacing as he pulled away a page of the textbook that had stuck to his face.

“Uh, good morning?” Keith offered.

Lance glanced up in surprise, blinking at Keith. Then, without warning, he burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh my god, dude,” Lance snorted, ”you have like, the worst bed head I’ve ever seen. I— I thought Pidge’s was bad, but _oh my god.”_

Keith frowned, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to make it lie flat.

“Hold on, hold on, you— you’re just making it worse. Here, let me—“

Lance scooted forward, reaching out and gently smoothing Keith’s hair with barely contained laughter. Keith’s face burned, but if Lance noticed, he didn’t say anything.

Lance finally pulled back, letting out a sigh of defeat. “Sorry, buddy, but I think you’re a lost cause,” he said solemnly. Then his eyes lit up. “Oh my god, will you take a picture with me?”

“What? Why?”

“Because this is possibly the greatest moment of my life and I want to remember it.”

Keith gave him an exasperated look.

“C’mon, man,” Lance whined, sticking his lower lip out into a pout. “I’m so used to you looking like you just walked off the set of an action movie, just let me have this.”

Keith rolled his eyes, feeling his face burn again. “Fine.”

Lance got up and dragged Keith out of his chair, pulling out his phone and holding it at arm’s length. Keith put on the best death glare he could manage, which only made Lance laugh harder.

Lance’s smile faded as he glanced back at Keith’s laptop. “So, uh… how did we do?”

Keith sat back down and tapped on the keyboard until the screen came back to life in front of him. “Looks like we’ve got… ten pages?”

Lance sighed. “It’ll have to do. We’re out of time. Speaking of which, I better get back to my room and get dressed. Later, Keith!”

Keith nodded after him as he left.

 

 

 

Lance’s dorm was empty when he got back to it, as Hunk had already left for classes. Lance quickly changed out of his clothes and went to wash up, splashing some water on his face and looking up at his reflection.

Then he froze, his breath catching in his throat as his gaze fell on his left arm.

The red lion tattoo was gone.

 

 

 

“Keith!”

Keith stopped at the sound of his name, the thin layer of snow covering the courtyard crunching under his feet as he turned back.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked as Lance all but sprinted towards him.

“The mark!” Lance said breathlessly, coming to a stop a pace away from Keith and pulling the sleeve of his jacket back. “It’s gone!”

Keith studied Lance’s arm for a moment before looking up, meeting his eyes. “Isn’t that a good thing?” he asked quietly.

“I…” Lance shrunk away, placing his hands on his elbows. “…Yeah, I guess so. But… how?”

Keith shrugged, huffing out a breath that turned to mist around him in the cold air. “I found a way to break the bond. So… I did.”

Lance looked up sharply, and Keith thought he saw a flicker of hurt cross his expression.

“It’s not that I don’t care about you anymore!” Keith added quickly. “I just… I didn’t want you to be trapped in a relationship you didn’t want.” He paused. “Because… because that’s what this is, isn’t it?” Keith could hear his voice wavering, laced with uncertainty. “A mistake.”

Lance looked away, and Keith could see him take a deep breath before he met Keith’s eyes again.

“Maybe… it doesn’t have to be.”

Keith’s breath caught in his throat, and he took a step forward. But then his mind caught up with what he was doing and he froze, about to back away, but Lance stepped forward and caught his shoulders before he could.

“Keith,” Lance said quietly, breathlessly, “can I kiss you?”

In response, Keith closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against Lance’s and leaning forward, wrapping his arms around Lance’s neck. Lance held him close, cupping Keith’s face between his hands.

Keith finally pulled away and rested his forehead against Lance’s, their breath mingling and crystallizing in the air around them.

Lance grinned at him, but his expression still looked faintly uncertain. “So, uh, does this mean you like me?”

Keith groaned before breaking into laughter. “Oh my god, we’re both idiots.”

 

 

 

Epilogue  
2 Years Later

 

“I swear, these classes are actively trying to kill us,” Keith muttered over the stack of books he carried in his arms. Lance hummed in agreement, but he seemed distracted. Keith frowned. Lance had been acting a bit odd all day, seemingly on edge.

“Hey, uh… is everything okay?”

Lance looked back at him and smiled, that warm, fond smile that never failed to turn Keith’s insides to mush. But then they came to the end of the hall and Lance was on edge again, fidgeting nervously.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just uh, I’ve got to go help Pidge with something. See you later?” Lance asked, quickly planting a kiss on Keith’s forehead.

“Yeah, but—” But Lance was already gone, nearly sprinting down the hall in the opposite direction.

Keith frowned after him, wondering what _that_ was all about. He made a mental note to ask Lance about it later.

He came to his locker, balancing the stack of books in one hand while he unlocked it. He pulled it open and froze, carefully setting the books down and pulling out a small envelope with a heart drawn on it in light blue ink.

He looked around until he saw Lance leaning against the lockers a couple paces away, a nervous lopsided smile on his face.

“Please tell me you put the note in the right locker this time.”

Lance laughed softly and pushed off of the lockers, making his way towards Keith. He reached down and gently took Keith’s hands in his.

“Keith,” he said quietly, “will you be my soulmate?”

Keith felt a warmth bloom in his chest, and he struggled to keep the smile off of his face.

“Hmm, I dunno…” he said, pretending to consider it.

“Keeeith,” Lance whined, leaning forward and resting his forehead against Keith’s.

Keith laughed lightly, reaching up to cup Lance’s face in his hands.

“Of course I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Feel free to hmu at [genericpaladin](https://genericpaladin.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!!


End file.
